


Sketchy as Hell

by mamamittens



Series: Painting Folded Cranes [1]
Category: Underfell - Fandom, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell, Angst, Apparently "the fucking slowest of tragically adorable burns" as said by AofRandD, Attempted Sexual Assault, F/F, F/M, Fluff, I Came in like a wrecking ball with FEELS, Magic power, OC can be read as Reader since it is first person, OC not Frisk, Overwhelmingly cute, Reader and OC are one, does not take place in the underground, most of the gang has split, possible violence typical of Underfell, smut free
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-09-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 23:12:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 37
Words: 69,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6630967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mamamittens/pseuds/mamamittens
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anna was honestly just trying to finish college and continue her life as a reasonably alright artist. She did not mean to run into the edgy skeleton. </p><p>Sans was just trying to get by, he didn't mean to get a fucking crush. Well, shit. Why did the human have to be so cute anyway? And what was with all the paper cranes they kept making?</p><p> </p><p>First attempt at romance, so this should be fun for everyone. I promise fluff, but not smut. Room mate says I'm too innocent to try or something like that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Animus is Latin for Life, and is the root word for Animate

**Author's Note:**

> Any words that appear centered like so "--Wordy word words--" indicates a change in A)time B)scene or C) perspective. Bold indicates it is some form of internet post, such as Anna's blog. I do not own a blog, major in art (I'm an English major though), or the like, so the information I provide about such may not be accurate unless it is a fun fact. Those I usually look up if uncertain. The setting is not based on a real location, so try not to google Avalanche University. I don't know what will come up. If you wish for smut, feel free to lobby for it, but it may not happen.

            Slamming the door, I tried to calm my racing heart. I was definitely too out of shape to be sprinting four blocks. After only a few moments I already felt overheated, so I took off the extra layers I wore every time I left the apartment. A red and black letterman jacket for Avalanche University and a dark purple sweatshirt with white stars all over.

            My apartment was rather small, a part of an apartment complex on the slightly shady part of town. One bedroom one bath with a tiny kitchen that was literally separated from the living room by tile rather than carpeting. Over almost any flat surface there was at least three origami creations. Some were the classic crane, flowers, and a few were more complex things like dragons or those weird bird things that were just boats folded over. I had a few paintings, but not many. Most of them were just landscapes, I didn’t like painting people.

            I was twenty two years old, a senior at the college of my choice, set to graduate with honors in two months, and I think I just ran into an extortion dealing of some kind. Now, usually, in a big city, when you run into something like that, you pretend like you were anywhere _but_ there. I, however, had a much better outlet for all of my questionable meetings. I had a blog where I posted art and offered commissions. It paid… okay. But, unfortunately, not enough to avoid having an actual job. That job being stocking a local Hobby Lobby and helping customers find shit.

            I rolled my shoulders as I relaxed slightly, easing the tension in my body. I sat my bag down and flopped onto the old couch, preparing myself for about an hour to quickly sketch the man I saw on the expensive, but totally necessary digital sketch pad.

**\--Animus the Portrait posted!—**

Man, you guys will not believe what I saw today!

The most suspicious character in the most cliché place possible! An alleyway. I mean, damn. This dude was intimidating as fuck. I thought I was going to die when I walked by and he seemed to be threatening someone to pay him back or something. I mean, it’s not like I haven’t seen a monster before, those dudes tend to be edgy for some reason, but Jesus! I sketched a picture, because if there’s one thing monsters have done, its make my life more interesting to draw. At the very least, it’s more fun than drawing a human. I did more than enough of that in my anatomy class. *shivers* The things I have _seen_ … they cannot be unseen.

**\--A picture of a skeleton in a black jacket with a gold tooth grins cockily from the sketch.—**

            I leaned back against the couch cushions and ran a hand through my short brown hair. Yeah, that dude was sketchy as hell. I looked at the time on my laptop. One twenty six in the afternoon. The good thing about being an overachiever, is that for the last semester, my hours were pretty relaxed. I didn’t need more than the four classes I was currently taking, and I did a class during winter intermission, so I essentially had three classes. One of those was online, and my last two were basically gearing up for the final project we had due for finals. So, I only went to class from nine till eleven and two till four on Monday and Thursday. The campus being a very relaxed and casual twenty minute walk from my apartment. Well, with the shortcuts I take it does. Shortcuts being slightly shady back alleys. My hands idly went over to the small stack of post it notes on the coffee table and neatly folded a paper crane.

            My practiced hands easily produced a flawless paper crane in lemon yellow. I looked at the small crane for a moment, remembering how differently my first paper crane went at the tender age of fourteen. _How proud Brian would be of me today…_ I blew softly on the paper crane and watched as its tiny paper wings shifted awkwardly, a soft glow materializing around its delicate frame. After a few flaps it gently floating into the air and lazily circled my head before landing delicately on the TV and falling still once more. The line of paper cranes now numbering at twelve, all standing guard on the old TV. I got up, put on the habitual layering, and grabbed my backpack, locking the apartment behind me once more. With any luck, I wouldn’t run into any shifty skeletons again.

\--Did you know that you can use bread when you do oil paintings for clean up? Weird, huh?—

            Sans grumbled as he slammed open the door to his crappy apartment he shared with his brother, Papyrus. Life on the surface wasn’t quite what he imagined it would be. Hell, it probably wasn’t what anyone thought it would be like. But the kid had prepared them for it, in their own way. A solid year was spent underground with the human kid befriending every monster and ‘subtly’ teaching them how to mostly get along. But that was about six years ago and everyone scattered as soon as it was safe to do so on the surface. Asgore and Toriel were intimidating enough that they managed to get through all the legal crap in two years, but nice enough that monsters didn’t get the shaft right off the bat. Now, humans looked at monsters like they look at gang members. Best left alone unless you want trouble. Which is a good thing in his book. Until a cocky bastard forgets his place and tries to skip out on paying him back in a reasonable time. Damn gamblers.

            “SANS! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? LUNCH HAS ALREADY GONE COLD, YOU’VE BEEN GONE FOR SO LONG! HOW ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP UP YOUR ‘TOUGH GUY’ ATTITUDE WITHOUT PROPER NUTRITION, YOU LAY-ABOUT?!” Sans appreciated Papyrus. He really did. Fuck knows how long he would have lasted underground without his hellish training and dietary schedule. But yelling had always been a point of anxiety for him. Something about shouting just got to him. Usually, Papyrus didn’t do it, since Sans always sweat bullets every time he did, but today must have been stressful.

            “Just reminding some punk about his debts.” He walked through the shitty living room and looked into the kitchen where Papyrus was warming up spaghetti. Papyrus let out a groan.

            “I don’t know why you insist on giving out loans to leeches.”

            “They pay good interest when terrified.” Sans smirked. Papyrus gave him a weak glare.

            “That may very well be, but it still requires you to fight some lousy human every other week.” Papyrus shook his head and went back to the spaghetti.

            “Oh, some human chick almost interrupted me today. Some college kid from the looks of it, but they were smart enough to just walk away quickly.” Sans said smugly, thinking back to the wide, shocked amber eyes, “Kinda cute…” Papyrus groaned again. “Hey! Don’t kink shame me!” Sans said meaningfully as he looked at the apron with a certain robot on the front. Papyrus’ face went a little red as he choked on nothing.

            “I DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT! HERE’S YOUR NUTRITIOUS SPAGHETTI. EAT.” Papyrus shoved a plate of warm spaghetti into his hands before dashing to his room. Sans chuckled to himself as his mind wondered to how cute the human looked when their legs moved faster to get away from the incriminating scene. Maybe he’d run into her again?


	2. Ace of Spain?

            _Did you hear?_

_About the Collins boy?_

_…_

_Poor child._

**Hey, have you heard?**

**About the legend of the thousand paper cranes?**

**…**

**Hahaha, yeah. You’re right. It sounds silly… but would you like to try it anyway?**

            Mornings were an abomination. Friday mornings weren’t so bad, since I got to sleep in, and therefore miss the majority of its foul presence, but still not great. The fact that I worked from one till closing at eight was… a mixed bag. On the one hand, it’s fascinating how much bizarre crap Hobby Lobby has. On the other hand, you get some really… _special_ customers. The oddly snooty artsy types. I mean, sure, it’s rude to judge an artist by their medium, but seriously. _You make paper-mache boats, not gold plated jewelry. Chill._

            As a ‘happy helper’ I was required to dress in comfy but nice clothes. Nice being button up blouses, slacks, and durable shoes. Which I had, I wasn’t that broke. But walking around _too nice_ in my neighborhood wasn’t a good idea. So I had to throw on my usual double-layer of jacket/sweatshirt, giving me a grand total of four layers on my torso, not including a bra. The point? _It gets fucking hot, way too fast_. Usually because I needed to sporadically sprint in some areas. It’s a wonder I’m so out of shape given how quickly I’m willing to run like I stole something. I threw on a beanie and grabbed my phone before heading out. Two pop-tarts later and I was on my way to work. I was a college student. I ran on office coffee, pop-tarts, and _sheer willpower. Fear me._

\--Once is odd and twice is a coincidence.—

            _Does he live on street corners, intimidating the masses or some shit?!_ I carefully avoided eye-contact, or eye-light contact, with the very broadly built skeleton now scaring what looked like a drug addict. I knew that he was watching me though, the feeling was like a static charged blanket looming behind me. Maybe I needed to take another route for the next week or so? This shit is getting spooky. But who has time for planning different escape routes when you need to get those fucking layers toned down? Thankfully, Hobby Lobby wasn’t far away.

            After several tense moments of thanking the great dog-god Toby or whatever that the feeling of being watched stopped after reaching a block from Hobby Lobby, I entered my work place and went into the back to clock in. Let the hilarity begin. You see, I wasn’t bad at my job. I was quite adequate. I knew where just about every do-hicky was for various thing-a-ma-boppers and could easily point people in the right direction. Unfortunately, besides generic customer responses, nearly everything else came out… Not quite as I intended it. Oh yes, everything from stutters to the entirely wrong thing to say happens when I’m not quite prepared for conversing. _Joy_.

            “Excuse me, miss?” _speak of the devil…_ I turn around, tugging on the soft yellow fabric of my sleeves.

            “Yes, how may I help you?” the lady seemed nice enough. A bit of the typical mom-artist. Baggy jeans with paint, old t shirt that’s been through too many projects, and the infamous messy bun. She smiled back at my reflexive ‘customer service’ expression.

            “I was wondering where you kept the sponges here?” I nodded and gestured for her to follow me. “I wanted to do a little interior decorating and I thought adding clouds to the nursery would be nice.” _Oh god. She’s a talker. Shit._ And _Is there anything in the interior left to redecorate in your house, lady?_ Seemed to dominate my thoughts. I nodded silently and gestured towards the brush and sponge section.

            “Would that be all?” I asked a little awkwardly. I only had about four generic responses left to use. _Please say yes. Please. Please. Please. Plea—_

            “Actually, what kind of sponge would you recommend for a… cloud effect, if you will?” _Literally any sponge?_

            “W-W-Well, t-there’s… um… c-c-clouds are p-pretty easy. Um. J-Just about anything but a roller would do the trick. W-What k-kind of c-cloud?” her eyes lit up. _Fuck my life, lady. Did you not just hear that mess of a sentence I just said? How do I sound competent to you?!_

            After almost a solid hour of _that_ , it was a short break time. Mostly because, despite being in a city, near a college campus, not a lot of people wondered Hobby Lobby. I _relished_ the quiet time this store had. So much. Especially after customers like that. Sure, once I manage to get past the linguistic mess I turn into, it’s pretty okay. But that rarely happens.

            “ _Wow_. A plus customer service, Anna.” I heard the sarcastic slow clap behind me and groaned. Vicky was a fun person, really. She was. But her merciless drive to tease me bordered on cruelty.

            “You are dead to me, you gothic mosquito.” Yeah… Vicky was a fan of the gothic ‘am I a goth or vampire’ look. She wore ridiculous black button ups that looked like they came out of the Victorian era. Or sort of like pirate shirts on occasion. But they were nice, so she could get away with it. With a cheerful laugh I was embraced by spindly arms and the smell of nice perfume. “Huh. You smell nice. New boy toy?” I shot back at her teasingly.

            “Careful there, pixie. I am _this_ close to your jugular.” She sneered into my ear. Yeah, she wasn’t good at nicknames. Just because my haircut was _called_ a pixie cut, doesn’t mean I look like one.

            “Alright, alright. Let go of me before Judy gets her spidey senses tingling and thinks you’re up to something again.” Judy being her much better adjusted, but scarily perceptive girlfriend. That chick could see the future, I swear. With one last squeeze she let go of me and twirled me around to face her olive eyes. She seemed to have added another streak of black to her blonde hair. Huh. Or maybe it was a dark green?

            “We got another shipment in, pixie. Go unbox them while I fend off the masses?” she asked prettily, as though I needed convincing, “Oh, and Judy says that your future has a real Ace. Something ‘bout being from Spain?” Well that’s weird. What kind of Spaniard has the name Ace? I shook my head and went to mutilate boxes and unpack glitter. _Did we seriously need more of that shit? Glitter is legitimately the herpes of the craft world, I swear._

\--But thrice is fate. Or a conspiracy. Not sure if there’s a difference, really.—

            Sans could not believe the balls these bastards had. And he really thought his day was looking up. Second day in a row of coming across that cute human girl and it was just past lunch time. Some druggie thought that he could ‘borrow’ money from him again without some collateral. Yeah. Not happening. But the girl was pretty good at pretending to not see shit, or at least, she would be if he hadn’t already been looking at her. He noticed the quick glance, that subtle tensing of the shoulders, and _those damn layers._ Mystery was new. Sometimes fun, even, but it was starting to drive him batty. Was it even normal to wear a jacket _over_ a sweatshirt? It wasn’t hot, sure, but it sure as hell wasn’t _cool_ out.

            But he was getting distracted. Not good. One of his dumbass loaners made some friends. Seemed to be under the impression he had been taken for a spin. How, Sans wasn’t sure, the fucking idiot agreed to the interest rate _beforehand_. He was hardly blind sided with it.

            “Fucking monsters, ruining everything!” one of the shits spat, as though he was supposed to be impressed by his eloquent speech or something. Five against one was hardly _new_ odds for Sans, but he rarely liked beating the shit out of that many opponents without at least _some_ back up. Two brought only fists to the party. The ballsy ‘leader’ had a knife and his other two friends had baseball bats.

            “We’ll show you!” Sans huffed.

            “Show me what, assholes? That you get real brave with your buddies but piss your pants when alone? No thanks. Already knew that.” knife guy gave what Sans assumed to be a threatening shout before charging him. It was almost insulting, really. A quick pulse of red magic sent them sprawling back. He was about to give them a beating when he heard it. Faintly familiar and quiet footsteps walking past the alley. Somewhere, deep inside of him, Sans wondered if it was a bad sign he could already identify this nameless human’s footsteps. Then he had a brilliant idea. He spun around and quickly caught up with the human.

            “Hey, sorry to bug ya, but mind if I borrow that jacket and hat?” It was a pretty damn baggy jacket, so it should fit him he wasn’t even wearing his own at the moment. Startled, she turned and looked at him. He could already see the wheels in her head turning, trying to figure out how to get as far away from him as possible. Well, that won’t do.

\--Of all the best laid plans, it’s the stupid ones that work the most. Sadly.—

            Closing brought a special joy to my heart and soul. And by special joy, I meant moderate terror, because slowly checking the aisles for stragglers in the dead silence before turning off the lights was creepy as hell. But closing the doors was nice. It felt like I was shielding the world from the terror that is glitter glue in aisle twelve. Somehow, someway, that shit got everywhere. We had yet to find the broken bottle that caused all that mess. Vicky and I, that is. I don’t work any shifts with the others. Vicky was just… always there. If I didn’t close every once in a while, I’d assume she lived between the cotton balls and air brush canisters at night.

            At least it was a little cooler at night, so I wouldn’t be so freaking hot by the time I made it to my apartment. I was halfway there when I heard it. The quiet sounds of quick footsteps that pulled up next to me.

            “Hey, sorry to bug ya, but mind if I borrow that jacket and hat?” I looked over at him in shock. It was the edgy fucking skeleton. Being so close made me realize that, not only did this bastard have a good five inches on me (at a whooping five foot six), but he was built like a tank. Structure wise. Ya know. Since he was a skeleton… speaking of, what happened to his jacket? All he had on was a t-shirt that exposed his bone forearms and jeans with goofy red sneakers. “Please, doll face?” my eyes focused in on his and I immediately regretted it. The pits of his eye sockets were dark, practically pitch black, but whatever makes his fucking ‘eyes’ wasn’t a solid point of light. Being as close as he was, I could see how they were like negatives of an actual iris if you blurred it a lot. It looks like a fuzzy dot, but then you can actually see iris patterns, and fuck man, if that wasn’t fascinating as hell. But that wasn’t what threw me. What threw me was how… _soft_ they were? He wasn’t threatening me, he was _asking_ me. And fucking hell, if I’ve ever been able to deny a _sincere_ request before.

            Wordlessly I removed my out jacket and handed it to him. He shrugged it on easily, the incredibly baggy material _just_ managing to fit him. A bony hand flew to my head and removed the beanie before securing it over his scalp. There was a name for the bones in the head, but fuck if I could recall them at that moment, since he immediately threw his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. He lowered his face to rest against my hair, as though he was whispering something to me, and I was literally fried. _THE FUCKING HELL DO I DO?! PERSONAL. SPACE. SHIT. Should I slap him or…?_ Behind us I heard several angry male voices as they searched for someone. _Gee, I wonder who?_

            “WHERE IS THAT FUCKER?!” the skeleton tightened his grip as he casually zipped up the jacket and shoved his free hand into a pocket. Footsteps ran towards us, and without even pausing, moved passed us. A deep chuckle ruffled my hair as five guys ran around the corner. Was that a baseball bat?!

            “Thanks, sweetheart. That was a close call.” Distantly, I noted how he didn’t remove his arm. Or his face. Or his general body. In fact, I think he got _closer_.

            “Y-You’re w-welcome. B-b-ut… uhm… space? Sketchy. Uh. Winter wear? Wait, what?” the skeleton laughed a little harder.

            “Name’s Sans, doll face. Heh.” he withdrew— _FINALLY_ —his arm dropping a little low but he did give me space, “Want me to walk you back to your house, sweetheart?” I shook my head.

            “Uh. No. Just. No. No.” I felt like my face was warm with embarrassment (probably horribly splotchy as well), and that also received a small chuckle at my expense. He removed my jacket and casually slung it over my shoulders, like some fucking gentleman or some shit, and grinned. A golden tooth glittering in the street light.

            “Well, see ya later, toots. Oh, and I’m keeping the hat.” And between one blink and the next, he was gone. Just. Gone.

            “ _Why the hell did he need a disguise if he can pull that Houdini shit?!_ ” I whisper yelled to myself in confusion. I shook my head and resolutely speed walked all the way back to my apartment. It may not have even been nine yet, but there were plenty of weirdos running around. Exhibit A) Sans the god damn skeleton. Fucking Hell!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, so far i'm having fun. Not too sure if romance is a genre I can pull of, but we'll see /together/ won't we? If you have any requests or questions, please feel free to ask away. That's no guarantee that it'll happen, but i'm usually pretty accommodating. Oh, and if you see problems with my execution, please do tell. I'm used to doing family fluff types of things, so I may accidentally start to... well, lean that way. If UF!Sans comes across as a little... aggressive, it's not just because he's Underfell. Since he looks so sketchy (especially with all those alley meetings and shit) Anna isn't about to go looking for him. That always bothered me in romances. "I just met this super sketchy/dangerous looking guy. *sigh* I wonder if i'll meet him again?" That how white chicks die in horror movies. No. So, Sans kind of need to be a bit pushy.
> 
> Would you guys be interested in A) Sans POV reaction to the last scene B) Accidental run in with Papyrus or C) some more magical shit that Anna is capable of? I mean, I kind of just teased you guys in the first chapter. It was there, but not in your face. I do have a guideline for what she can do, by the way. I'm not just pulling it out of my ass here. I have a few plot points planned, but they have to wait until these two dorks are closer to happen. Which might be a week in story time if they keep running into each other like this. Seriously. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!


	3. I Chose ALL THE OPTIONS!

            Sans closed the door to his shitty apartment with a chuckle. Papyrus hated it when he just ‘popped’ in. The soft fabric of the dull red beanie providing a lingering warmth on his head. Keeping the damn thing was a split-second decision, but he couldn’t find it in himself to regret it. The look on the human’s face was priceless. _Careful there, the last thing you need is to start falling for her. You don’t even know her fucking name._ Sans reminded himself. Then his mind wondered back to that frantic stutter, the warm scent of her hair, and those wide eyes staring back at him. _Yeah… might be a little too late… at least she’s not a bitch._

            He usually demanded things, but following that small nudge from his Soul, he just asked. And he received. _Boy, did I receive_. Sans thought as he recalled how nice it felt to have the shy human tucked into his side. It would have been even nicer if she was relaxed, rather than tense at the unexpected move, but beggars can’t be choosers. At least he managed to fondle her ass, he doubted that she even noticed, but it was _nice_. For however brief it lasted.

            “SANS.” Papyrus’ voice broke through his thoughts, “I have been trying to get your attention for several minutes now. Dinner is ready… and get that _lewd_ smile off your face.” Papyrus shot at him as he went back into the kitchen. Sans brought a hand to his mandible and felt what he thought was his usual grin. It wasn’t. It was a little too wide and sharp. _Opps._ Yeah, he should probably cut his daydreaming to a minimum around his brother. Last thing he wanted was for Papyrus to think he needed a ‘training’ session. Fucking brutal as hell.

\--Legend says that if you fold a thousand paper cranes in a year, your wish will come true.—

            It was somewhat relaxing to make the various avian paper crafts fly around. I wasn’t sure why only creations modeled after birds flew, but it probably had something to do with my belief of what that creature could do. Not that I had ever made anything besides _paper_ birds fly before. I wasn’t very gifted with metal work and origami was something of a hobby of mine.

            I could remember when making just one paper crane fly made me tired. Now it was like registering a sound in the background that was expected. A small increment of focus before total dismissal. At the moment, most of my concentration was focused on drawing a close up of Sans on the drawing pad. I was failing. Every time I thought I was close, I realized I missed something. His eye sockets were too narrowed or his nasal cavity too crooked. It was really frustrating. I tossed the pad onto the other side of the couch, gently of course, I was too broke to go flinging expensive equipment around. In my frustration I accidentally brought the decent landscapes to life. The beach scene I painted two years ago was now a calming and hypnotic sight of gentle waves lapping at the shore. I could barely hear the waves and the breeze sweeping across the field of lavender in the other landscape. It reminded me of the day everything changed.

_The sterile white hospital room seemed stagnant, even though the window was open and light poured through like water, filling the room with warmth. Brian laid down under impersonal white sheets and smiled softly. His amber eyes almost orange in the light._

_“Hey, it’s going to be okay! I’ll be out of here before you know it!”_

**_I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make it hurt more._ **

_“It gets boring staying here with nothing to do. One of the nurses showed me this neat trick.” His fingers were a little clumsy as he neatly folded a piece of paper into a paper crane, “You know what they say about these? Legend has it, if you make one thousand of them, the gods will grant your wish… wanna help me, Annie?”_

            We sat there for what seemed like forever, with Brian gently teaching me how to fold up the paper crane. Then, it happened. Heh… we thought it was the wind at first.

            _One of the dozen shoddy paper cranes sat on the bed, seeming to mock me. I glared at it, wishing it would just fly away as a breeze gently swept through the room. The crane lifted up and wobbled as it glided across the room._

_“Woah, see! You’re so good already, that they fly!”_

_“…Brian… it’s not the wind. Look.” We both looked down at the bed where the other birds rested. Not a single one of them so much as rocked in the breeze. Brian looked at me in amazement._

_“That’s so cool, Annie!”_

He was only seventeen at the time… he looked so proud and amazed. Wistfully, I leaned against the couch and closed my eyes, only peripherally aware that the various paper aviaries rested on the couch as well before falling still. I fell asleep to kind memories with shadowed reminders of my past mistakes.

            In my apartment, at the top of a closet, a single portrait was covered in a quilt. It hadn’t seen the light of day since I was sixteen. Much like the coffin they buried Brian in.

\--Pay day is a great day.—

            Getting paid was a wonderful feeling. It was the act of literally cashing in on manual labor. Most of it went to rent. Some was tucked back for an emergency. And then there was some left over for groceries. I didn’t have a car, Wi-Fi was part of the rent (a reason why I even rented an apartment here was the included Wi-Fi), as well as utilities, and I had already paid what financial aid refused to. Grocery shopping was an… interesting experience. Mostly because it wasn’t just groceries I needed. Ah yes, the time of great floods. Truly, the most destructive and horrific event to plague my calendar.

            It was an unpleasant but necessary purchase that I needed to make. Soon. So, that how I found myself with a basket of cheap food items in the feminine product aisle. I didn’t have a lot, but this ‘luxury’ purchase was very much necessary. Then these assholes showed up. There I was, minding my own _damn business_ , and trying to navigate my way to the register when two dudes came out of nowhere.

            “Hey, girl.” Nosy bastard number one perused his eyes across my body and into my basket. Number two seemed content to silently act smarmy as hell. “You know, we could help with that.” I looked at my hand where a box of spaghetti noodles rested.

            “Make pasta?” I didn’t even realize I cut through the pasta aisle. Dark eyes seemed to flicker hatefully for a moment.

            “No, sweet thing. We just noticed you seem to be having trouble there.” his eyes rested on my basket, or rather, on the obvious box of pads. My cheeks felt warm.

            “Uh. N-No thanks.” I wasn’t entirely sure what ‘help’ he thought he was offering, but I didn’t want anything to do with it. Smarmy bastard edged closer until I was basically crowded between bastard one _and_ two. My shoulders tensed as the first one leaned over me.

            “IF YOU DIGUSTING CRETINS WOULD STOP BLOCKING THE FOOD AISLES, THAT WOULD GREATLY BE APPRECIATED.” A very _loud_ and gravelly voiced cut through the tense atmosphere. The two guys jerked back in shock. Both turned to glare at the owner of the voice before paling just slightly.

            “M-Mind your own damn business, _freak_.” He sneered up at the very tall and _edgy_ skeleton. This wasn’t Sans, though he was also a skeleton. It looked like someone managed to get in a good hit and cracked his left eye socket slightly. He wore dark jeans and a black wife beater with red gloves with spike accents. His eye sockets were just black forbidding pits as they narrowed at the two assholes. His hand reached out and grabbed my wrist, dragging me away from the assholes and to his side. He brought my hand, as well as the box of noodles, up close to his face.

            “This is an adequate brand for spaghetti, human female.” He turned back towards the two assholes and sneered, “DO YOU REQUIRE SOMETHING, CRETINS?” the two paled even further before scrambling away, glaring over their shoulder. He gingerly let go of my wrist and perused the aisles like he didn’t just come to my rescue.

            “Um… t-thanks for that.” A faint shading of red covered the skeleton’s cheekbones.

            “IT… it was nothing for THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS!” Papyrus, the great and terrible, coughed into his glove lightly, “But you’re welcome. Regardless. I just have a high disregard for… _slimy cretins_ such as those two.” He added primly before dismissing me entirely, but I wasn’t really insulted.

            “Well, I’m glad ‘The Great and Terrible Papyrus’ deigned to rescue me from unsavory individuals. It was nice meeting you, Great and Terrible Papyrus.” I said softly before walking away.

            “W-Wait a moment, human female!” I paused and turned around, “For the sake of brevity, you may call me Papyrus.” I smiled and laughed a little under my breath.

            “And you may call me Anna. Have a nice day, Papyrus.” Papyrus huffed and looked back at the boxes of pasta noodles, as though he couldn’t care less.

            “And to you as well, Anna.”

            It looks like I made friends with another edgy skeleton, but this one was much easier to handle somehow. For all of his bad attitude front, he was a gentleman, surprisingly enough. I wonder if he’s related to Sans?

\--It’s amazing how small a big city can truly be.—

            Papyrus returned to his crummy abode in a rather benevolent mood. Sans was sitting on the couch, watching some inane human show. On his way to put away the groceries he paused briefly.

            “Perhaps human females are not so bad… at least the polite ones are nice enough. You’re still have disgusting tastes, Sans. Make no mistake.” He said dismissively before entering the kitchen to put away the food items. He glared at the box of noodles as Sans laughter reached him. Yes. Anna was nice, for a human female. Better than those females that glared at him, hid their children like he was some lawless lout, or even worse, lusted unappealingly because of his appearance. How Sans was attracted to them was completely lost on Papyrus, but he didn’t mind. It wasn’t something he _wanted_ to understand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have noticed, I selected all /three/ options. Mostly, I was just curious about what you guys wanted more. Sans building, Papyrus building (despite not being romance option), or character building for Anna. So far, this is quite fun. Though it's mostly just maneuvering these two nerds together. By the way, how many of you guys didn't realize Brian was dead? Cuz, if you didn't before, you sure as hell do now. But that's not the end of the story with Brian. I promise, there will be more angst.


	4. Edgy Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small bit of attempted non-con/assault. It doesn't go anywhere, but if you have... some sensitivities towards that, consider this the trigger warning.

            It had been almost a week since I’d seen Sans. It was Friday night again and Hobby Lobby was as deserted as always. Only three people came in during my shift.

            “Hey, pixie. About that thing Judy wanted me to tell you, apparently I got it a little wrong. It was an Ace of Spades in your future, not an Ace of Spain.” I blanched a little, fully aware of the meaning of that particular card, but Vicky just laughed a little, “No, it’s cool. That card rarely actually means death. It could mean your loner life is almost up. Who knows, you could finally make some friends.” Vicky teased me. I scowled at her.

            “I am perfectly fine with my social circle as it is, Vicky.” I said primly, but she just laughed at me.

            “What social circle, girl? More like a social line. I’m pretty sure I’m the only person in this city you actually talk to on a semi-regular basis.” I fumbled for some sort of excuse, but couldn’t come up with any. After Brian died, what little social skills I had dwindled down to nothing. In truth, Vicky really _was_ the closest thing I had to a friend. Well, maybe…

            “I’ll have you know I’ve become reasonably good acquaintances with _two_ people in the next week.” Vicky gave me a look, “I’m not lying! Sans and Papyrus. They both happen to be skeletons. I’ve ran into Sans three times already and Papyrus helped me out in the grocery store last week. So, there. Ha!” Vicky was not impressed.

            “Those are pretty interesting names, pixie. You sure you didn’t just name two _fonts_?” I gasped, offended by her implication, but also just now realizing that they both _were_ , in fact, font type names.

            “That’s probably a coincidence. They’re both monsters, and I’m not familiar with their naming culture.” She narrowed her eyes at me, ready to bring up what was probably a good point, when the doorway chimed. She leaned to look past me and her face hardened.

            “Go check on inventory in the back. I don’t like the look of these guys.” Her voice left no room for argument, and it wasn’t like I was equipped to deal with them. Vicky could knock a bitch out cold with her fist. I was just lucky if I didn’t break mine. I moved to the back, stealing a glance at the suspicious customers. My blood ran cold as I recognized them as the guys from the grocery store. Same dark hair, somewhat handsome features, and body language. One of them glanced my way and I was _gone_. I wasn’t sure if he spotted me or not, but I wasn’t going to stick around to find out. There was only an hour until closing, but finding busy work was hardly something new for me. At least I wasn’t closing by myself this evening.

\--Does he still have that beanie?—

            Sans walked around the alleys of the city, roughly in the same area he encountered the human last week. She seemed like the type to fall into a routine easily, so if he could just make it a regular thing, he could get a whole lot closer to her. Maybe get her name sometime in the near future. He was even wearing the beanie on his skull. Was it a bit stalker-ish? Yeah, he kind of resolved himself to that a while ago, but damn it all if he wasn’t in the midst of a full-blown crush. Like some damn kid, it was fucking ridiculous. He wasn’t a baby bones anymore! It wasn’t even lust, which he was used to experiencing bouts of and dealing with, but a pull from his Soul. Cheesy ass bullshit is what it was.

            …But it was kind of nice. The human was kind, a bit of a pushover, and shy. Not usually what kind of tail he chased. He kind of hoped it wouldn’t be a temporary thing. Then again, he had never heard of a monster’s Soul pulling them towards flings. Potential lovers and pseudo-family, sure, but never one-night stands. He felt a small chill crawl down his spine. He really hoped that the human wasn’t going to end up being like a sister to him. That just brought up all kinds of uncomfortable questions about his sibling relationships. Not that he had more than one.

            Speaking of other monsters, he wondered how the others were doing. Toriel and the kid moved to the country with Asgore close behind, to keep an eye on them or try his paw at family again, Sans wasn’t sure. Alphys and Undyne were probably doing freaky shit god knows where. Every once in a while they’d skype each other, but after so long in close quarters, most monsters couldn’t stand to be near each other. They had been so casually violent around each other that they tended to fall into old habits without realizing it. As many fights as he ran into being a loan shark, it was nothing compared to the casual violence he was used to in the underground.

            Somewhere in the distance, he picked up the sound of frantic footsteps and a somewhat familiar voice. But he had never heard such distress from the human female before. He was moving before he realized it, ready to intercept her and whatever trouble she may have found. He’d be damned if he just _let_ some punk fuck with his human female… even if it was a work in progress.

\--Maybe he’ll finally get her name?—

            At first, it seemed like I was in the clear. That they didn’t happen to see me. They left fifteen till closing time, leaving Vicky and I to check the store for non-existent stragglers and locking up. Vicky seemed on edge.

            “Want me to walk you home, pixie? I… I got a bad feeling about tonight.” it was reassuring that she was willing to walk me home, but I didn’t want to bother her. She lived in the opposite direction I did, after all, and it wasn’t safe to take long walks at night. Particularly when you’re female.

            “Nah, I should be alright. Most people don’t realize I’m a girl until I speak, what with my armor and all.” I joked. She let out an amused huff of air.

            “Well… if you’re sure, pixie. Call me when you get home, okay?” I nodded. Since we shared so many shifts, we had exchanged phone numbers some time ago in case Hobby Lobby closed for whatever reason.

            “Got it, Vicky. See ya later.” I said as we parted ways. Just a short five minutes later and I felt it. Eyes on my back. Unlike last week, when Sans watched me walk by, this felt more ominous. Instead of a static charged blanket, it was a lightning rod. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard a wolf whistle and rough laughter.

            “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes, sweetheart.” Involuntarily, I recalled Sans. I preferred the way he used the term of endearment. Coming from these guys it made me feel… exposed somehow. I looked behind me and saw the two men come out of an alley I passed. They sauntered my way casually, like they knew I was at a serious disadvantage.

            “Why don’t you come hang out with us? You could probably use a little… _unwinding_ after such a long day.” I needed to get out of here. _Now_.

            “N-No thank you. H-Have a nice day.” I said shakily as my legs jerked forward a little faster. I heard their footsteps pick up the pace.

            “Hey, now. For such a polite response, that wasn’t very nice. There’s no need to run, now be a _good_ girl and—“ I booked it when his voice reached within five feet of me. I knew the odds of getting away if I let them catch me weren’t very good, given that there were two of them, and I wasn’t that strong to begin with.

            “FUCKING BITCH!” the other one yelled as they started to run after me. My heart pounded almost as fast as my shoes against the pavement as I ran through alleys and streets, trying to lose them. But they only got closer and closer. I was so terrified, my mind was racing, and my harsh sobs of breath echoed in my head. I risked a glance behind me as I turned a corner. They were almost within arms-reach of me. I knew calling for help would get me nowhere. No amount of sweet talking or luck was going to save me now. Then I ran into someone.

            For a brief, panicked moment, I thought they managed to head me off. I let out a shriek as I tried to pull away from the arms wrapped securely around me. Then I heard his voice.

            “Woah, easy there, sweetheart. It’s me, Sans. What’s going on?” I paused, swallowing to try and catch my breath. I looked up and the sight nearly brought tears to my eyes. It really _was_ Sans. We weren’t close, he was still really sketchy, but he hadn’t done anything to me yet. He was my safest option. My hands clutched at the soft leather material of his parka as I leaned into him.

            “S-Sans!” His arms swept over my back in soothing gestures as he gently crooned. The warm moment was ruined by the sounds of angry footsteps just behind us. Sans stiffened, his arms bringing me closer.

            “Hey, man. Don’t worry, she’s with us. It was just a small prank, but she scares to easily!”

            “Yeah man! Come on, sweetheart, you know we didn’t mean it!” I flinched at the sound of their voices, my mind not entirely rational yet as I mentally pleaded for Sans not to buy into their lies.

            “A prank you say? Well, it’s only right as a prankster myself to avenge her honor. How about I start with _breaking every bone in your body?_ ” Sans growled as his body began to heat up, one hand keeping my head to his chest as he did something with the other. I heard a loud hum from somewhere behind Sans and the two guys inhaled sharply.

            “Fucking freaks ruining everything!”

            “We’ll get you back for this, I fucking promise!” Then they quickly turned tail and ran. After several long moments the humming stopped and Sans eased his grip. Slowly, I let go of his jacket and took a step back, wiping my eyes of any stray tears.

            “…Come on, sweetheart. Let me walk you home.” Sans said as he rested an arm over my shoulder.

            “Anna.” He paused and looked down at me.

            “What?” I looked down at my feet as I threw an arm around his… waist? What?

            “My name. It’s Anna.” Sans chuckled and let my feet steer the way to my apartment. Thankfully, I wasn’t totally lost. _I definitely have my arm around_ something _, but he’s a skeleton. What’s under his shirt?!... that sounds wrong, even in my head._

            “Well then, Anna, it’s nice to meet you. What happened back there?”

            “I ran into them last week in the grocery store, but Papyrus intervened. I don’t know if you know a Papyrus, but he’s also a skeleton. He seemed to like pasta… anyway, I just got off of work and I was walking home. I guess they saw me at work and waited for me to be alone outside. I ran before they could grab me and… well, you know what happened after that. So… thanks. For saving me.” Sans hand squeezed my shoulder in reassurance.

            “Hehe. Well, I could hardly just _stand by_. You helped me out last week, and you’re a nice human… and Papyrus. Yeah. I know him. He’s actually my brother. You met him in a grocery store? That explains the good mood he was in. I never should have doubted the power of such a _cute_ face, if just meeting you put my bro in a good mood.” The tips of my ears burned and Sans laughed. I let out a frustrated whine as we came up to my apartment building.

            “Well… this is my stop. Thanks, Sans. Again.” I started to walk away.

            “Wait! Give me your number.” I spun around and looked at Sans incredulously, taking in his features.

            “What?” Sans’ face seemed to turn slightly darker as he looked to the side. I took the opportunity to look at Sans closely, like I was unable to before. Despite looking a lot like a human skeleton, there were key differences. For one, there seemed to be a layer of pseudo-skin that covered most of his teeth and the natural gaps between the mandible and cheek bone. It gave the impression that he had a very rounded grin at all times, due to being more of a flexible covering rather than actual lips. It didn’t cover his nasal cavity either, so I assumed it was mainly so his mouth wasn’t so exposed, like an actual skeleton. The lights of his eyes seemed to widen as he looked back at me, his ‘mouth’ turning into a cocky and sharp grin.

            “You shouldn’t be walking alone from work this late at night. I’ll walk you.” He winked at me, “What, you afraid of the _big bad skeleton?_ ” I snorted unintentionally and his expression softened. I took out my phone, Sans almost scrambling to follow my lead. We exchanged numbers and Sans seemed inordinately pleased with himself. It was almost cute. I waved goodbye and went up to my apartment, ready to just go to sleep.

\--Edgy but cute.—

            Sans looked down at his phone in amazement. _He had made so much progress already!_ _Her name_ and _her phone number! All in one night!_ He smiled down at his new contact and relished the new sensations he had.

            Anna— _what a cute name!_ —had willingly clung to him. Sure, after such a doubtlessly scary situation, she didn’t entirely _mean_ to go to him for comfort, but it did indicate a level of trust. And that was all the progress he needed to know. Walking her home in relative silence, arm wrapped around her shoulder, and her own around his pseudo-waist. She even appeared to be checking him out after he asked for her phone number! So, success on all sides. _I had a_ great _time tonight_... _But if I see those shitheads again, I can’t guarantee their lifespans will continue for much longer._ A small part of him wondered on how miraculous it was that his brother _already_ seemed to approve of you. _I can’t wait until Paps finds out that Anna’s the human I’ve been chasing after…. He’s going to flip_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so it's really weird to try and describe how Sans could have that cartoony mouth thing that actually moves and not just have a super flexible skull. So, it's like a covering for most of his mouth that doesn't form actual lips. Uh... yeah. Every story with Sans (in any incarnation) I write tends to have a slightly different description. This one happens to be the more cartoon inspired form in fanart that you see the most often. And I will explain how he had a waist that wasn't his bones, BTW. Also, SolemnlySociopathic, how could I not do a bit of a shout-out for a consistent reviewer from my /three/ other stories for Undertale? So, now these two nerds are that much closer to actually being in a relationship. It feels slow, when compared to stories where Sans/whoever start out pretty much already there, but not enough to justify a 'slow burn' tag.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it!


	5. Lunch

            Since it was a Saturday, I had another shift this evening. Same as yesterday, in fact. Before the events of last night, I wouldn’t have minded walking alone, but now two very angry guys knew where I worked. Even in broad daylight it didn’t feel safe. Trying to take my mind off of the undercurrent of anxiety I felt, I took a look at my blog for any commissions. Oh. Huh. Two. Apparently, my quick sketch of Sans impressed some people. One was a customer I had made art for before and the other was a request of a ‘humorous anime rendition’ of the two individuals in the photo attached. A yellow lizard-like monster with a very ripped, blue fish lady. Apparently it was an anniversary of some kind. And if that wasn’t fucking adorable… Oh. Uh. The anime they wanted it to be inspired by is Corpse Party… monsters are edgy fucks. End of story.

            I was about to get started on a general outline when my phone buzzed at me. I was rather unused to it making _any_ noise in general, so for several seconds, I had no fucking idea what was happening.

**[You wrkn 2nit babe?]**

            Oh great. Text speak.

**[Yeah… one till closing.]**

I looked at the clock. I had about an hour before I needed to leave.

**[lunch?** **]**

            I narrowed my eyes at his odd choice of spelling before glancing at the kitchen. I still had ramen but…

**[My treat.]**

            And sold.

**[If you insist. What time?]**

**[Wat ur prtmnt #?]**

            I felt like slapping him. What the hell was with this text speak shit?! I texted him the number anyway and got up to get dressed. Not that I needed to change much. Mostly just throw on some jeans. I was actually stepping into them when I heard the loud knocking on my door… and nearly fell over. Jesus Christ, I was so unused to people coming over that the sound of _knocking_ scares the shit out of me.

            “Coming!” I shouted as I hopped around, shimmying my pants up my hips, just in time to answer the door. I unlocked the door and there he was… in exactly the same clothes as yesterday. I frowned a little and moved to the side. “Uh, come in. I just need to throw on my armor and grab my things.” He obligingly stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Awkward and unsure about what I was supposed to do at that moment, I settled for grabbing my things. Fucking hell, why is he so silent?!

\--You know you want to know.—

            Houses say a lot about people. Sans knows this very well. His own, though of poor quality, was relatively homey. His room was… organized chaos. He wasn’t sure what a whole bunch of paper craft shit said about Anna. There were birds, flowers, frogs and fuck if he knew what else, all over the various flat surfaces in her house.

            Speaking of Anna, it was nice to know what her torso looked like under the two fucking layers of jackets she insisted on wearing. Nice. And, she puts them back on… Well, he guessed he could see where she was coming from with wearing them. The neighborhood wasn’t exactly friendly and just last night she was almost attacked. Maybe that’s why she wore them all the time? She grabbed her phone and keys and looked at him expectantly. It was then he realized that he’d been acting like a fucking creep this whole time.

            “Ready to go?” She nodded, a slightly relieved look on her face, “Well come on. I know a nice little café.” He opened the door and moved out of the way so she could lock up. Afterwards, he casually threw his arm over her shoulder and steered her towards the little café a few block away. While he was glad she didn’t seem to mind, it bothered him a little that she didn’t have a strong defense of her personal space. Most human males he saw had trouble understanding the word no. Not that he was around sparkling examples of humanity often.

            “So… Sans? Uhm. What do you do for a living? You know, besides intimidating the masses.” Judging by the look on her face, Sans was pretty sure she didn’t mean to say that last part aloud. But her embarrassed face was fucking cute. She looked like a cherry.

            “Well, I actually give out loans to people. Then they pay me back, with interest, and I give out loans to more people. It’s a solid business.” She snorted a little and laughed.

            “That explains why the first two times I saw you, you looked like you were doing something _really_ shady. Who needs credit checks when you have intimidation tactics?” Sans chuckled at that. Having gold from the underground was a great start, though Papyrus acted as a bouncer at clubs every weekend for extra cash. They paid well to have troublemakers terrified.

            “Pretty much. What about you?” they came up to the café, Beach Bistro (Now with _Sand_ -witches!). They took a seat next to the window and a waitress came to take their order. After ordering a soda and a sandwich special, they continued talking.

            “I’m finishing my last semester of college for an art degree. I also take commissions from my blog when I’m not working at Hobby Lobby.” He didn’t get to do this much. Usually it was a short meeting, some fun in a hotel room, and then parting ways. But this was a nice change of pace. Not that he wasn’t interested in some bedroom fun, but he had a feeling that a casual fling wouldn’t go over well with Anna.

            “What do you do for fun?” he asked as the waitress gave them their orders. He checked his sandwich. Yep, plenty of mustard. His favorite condiment. He used to just drink it straight from the bottle, but Papyrus threatened to put him on a new training regimen if he caught him doing it again. She took a small sip of her own drink before answering.

            “Mostly just sketch the different people I’ve seen and make o-origami.” Sans narrowed his eye sockets at that. There was something in her voice at that last part… “What about you?” Sans thought for a moment.

            “Well, I actually enjoy what I do. Occasionally I’ll work a shift with my brother, Papyrus, as a club bouncer. I’ve had a few flings, but otherwise, I don’t do much.” There. Honest, hinting that he was open to a relationship with humans, but not shoving it out there. Anna finished her sandwich delicately, reminding him of a cat.

            “So you have a brother, any other family?” Sans thought back.

            “No. It’s always just been Papyrus and I. We barely talk to the others from the underground. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but we’re a bit… rough around the edges. Get too many in one room and a brawl breaks out.” Anna nodded her head and glanced at the time. Oh no. He wasn’t being boring was he? “What about you? Family. Close friends?” _Boyfriends?_ Or even worse _girlfriends?_ He could deal with a boyfriend. Human relationships were notoriously rocky at times, but if she wasn’t even interested in men… that’s a whole other problem to deal with.

            “No… I haven’t talked to my parents in years. Not since Brian passed away, no one really knew how to deal with it.” she shook her head, shaking the solemn expression from her face that made his ribs feel tight, “And I’m not very good at making friends. But Vicky, my coworker, she’s the closest… she’s my best friend.” _Note to self, impress this Vicky chick._ At least she wasn’t in a relationship. Or, at least she hasn’t mentioned one so far.

            “So… no special someone?” _If there is, at least be a guy, I can work with that at least_. But she shook her head again.

            “Pft. No. I can barely talk straight with strangers. Most people don’t try too hard when you can’t speak a sentence properly around them.” Sans grinned.

            “You seem awfully articulate with me.” He leaned in despite his better instincts, “Something you wanna tell me, sweetheart?” internally, he screamed. _FUCK. SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE, NOT FUCKING NASCAR DRIVING._ But he was rewarded with the most adorable flustered expression he had ever seen.

            “T-T-That! U-Uhm… w-well… I… you… uh…” Flustered, she looked away and coughed lightly, “D-Despite… despite your rather intimidating appearance, you’re sweet. Y-You didn’t really know me, but the other night, when you could have just left me with them… or walked away when they left… you didn’t. You scared them away. You walked me home, even if I was being a bit clingy, you didn’t say anything about it. Then you offered to walk me to work and back, and this. Lunch. You didn’t have to do any of it… but you did.” then… after all those words that made him feel like his magic was bubbling through his bones, she smiled.

            It was soft and shy, the light catching in her eyes, making them a golden color, and then he knew. He fell in love. This wasn’t some small crush, easily satisfied with a date or sex. He somehow managed to fall in love with this sweet, innocent little human. She had no idea that if he hadn’t of been smitten, he probably wouldn’t have investigated the distress he heard. Or paid her any mind. He fondled her ass after she was nearly _attacked_ , for Christ’s sake! He was a shitty individual. Violent. Rude. Cocky as hell. But… she thought so highly of him. It wasn’t like with Papyrus, where he _knew_ his lazy, piece of shit brother could do better and made _damn sure_ he had the tools to do so. It was soft and persuasive, her confidence in him. And sweet. Fucking hell, he felt like he needed to replace another tooth with gold, because his _had to be rotting out of his skull_. He even felt his bones grow warm as his magic bubbled up to the surface, staining ivory white the color of blood.

            “Oh. If I don’t want to be late, we need to leave.” Sans burst out of his thoughts, glad that Anna didn’t look up in her embarrassment to see how _red_ his fucking face was. Clearing his non-existent throat, he signaled the waitress to pay his check, leaving a generous tip for giving them their privacy. Even if the waitress clearly was interested in what was going on. Standing from the table, he offered his arm in a mock gesture, sending Anna into a fit of giggles as he wrapped her arm in his. The bubbly magic still warming the bones in his rib cage. He let her guide him along the way to Hobby Lobby, a craft store from what he heard of but had never actually seen.

            It looked nice enough, considering the neighborhood. A gothic chick stood outside, waiting for Anna he assumed, judging by the look on her face.

            “Pixie!” She jogged over to them and smiled, “And who is this bone boy?” she said with a smirk. Anna blushed (he really enjoyed how red she looked).

            “This is _Sans_.” He felt his pseudo-brow raise up at that. “Sans, this is Vicky—“

            “Her best friend that can _make you disappear if you try anything stupid with my pixie_.” Oh, now it was on.

            “Your pixie?” Sans looked over at Anna, who seemed to be trying to hide her face in her jacket, the tips of her ears as red as his magic by now. He supposed her really short haircut would be called a ‘pixie cut’. It sure as hell made her innocent face a whole lot cuter.

            “Yep. Come on, pixie. We got more glitter glue to stock.” Anna groaned, unwinding her arm from his before briefly giving him a side hug. He gave Vicky a sharp and challenging look before pulling Anna into a full hug. She narrowed her eyes at him and grinned. “All right, love birds, come on.” Anna stiffened and gave the both of them a long suffering look.

            “Thanks for lunch, Sans. See you at eight.” She waved goodbye and Sans was stuck with a goofy fucking look on his face. It was a good day so far… now to check on Michael. Bastard owes him two grand. _At least I can do something that doesn’t make me feel like a fucking pansy or some love sick asshole…_ Like beat the shit out of debt-dodgers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like the pacing is off somehow, like, is this too fast? I'm not 100% on that, but I thought it was cute as fuck when I wrote it. So, whatever. I also thought it was precious that one of you guys openly admitted to stalking this story, waiting for an update. I mean to do it yesterday, but a huge storm system swept through and several counties around me were under a tornado watch. Everyone was freaking the fuck out, but it was for naught. Thankfully. I'm not keen on losing yet /another/ house to fucking wind. But our trash cans were scattered man, the wind gusts were crazy. It wasn't like I was queasy for the whole day in anxiety or anything... anyway, glad to know i'm doing great so far.
> 
> I keep forgetting to mention my little head cannon of Underfell. I don't quite subscribe to 'crazy murderers', as much as I like the idea that rather than being light hearted and making jokes they grew bitter. All that bitter anger could only be turned on each other, which created a very violent upbringing. Not so much murder as constant beating the shit out of each other. oh, and Sans has had relations (not really relationships) with humans before. I think the 'play boy' attitude is a fun concept, so he is good at gauging who would be open to 'no stings attached fun' and who isn't. I haven't gotten the flirty thing down very well, but he was originally meant to be very flirty as a counter to Anna, who is very withdrawn and not very educated in relationships. She trusts pretty easily, as you may have noticed, and has a bit more faith in people than she should. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	6. Sleep Over!

            I should have seen it coming. The moment we were inside she spun around and gave me this _look_.

            “So… _Sans_ , was it?” Vicky grinned wolfishly, “How long have you two been… _friendly_?” I narrowed her eyes at the odd way she said that.

            “Since last night…” I swallowed hard, trying to find a way to say this without making her explode in anger, “Uhm… you were right to have that bad feeling.” I studiously ignored the shocked look on her face, “The same two guys from last night. Hey waited about a block or so away, I think. I ran before they could grab me and ended up running into Sans. He scared them off and walked me back to my apartment. Then we exchanged phone numbers and he offered to walk me to and from work from now on. He’s really sweet.” Vicky looked like a mix of shocked, angry, and amused.

            “ _Sweet_. Yeah… you’re okay though, right?” She asked in concern, looking relieved when I nodded, “I got to say it, though. I never expected you to make friends with a _monster_. Hey, don’t give me that look! I don’t discriminate… monsters just tend to be… well, edgy. And you’re so shy as it is, it’s just surprising, that’s all. But if the way he looked at you has anything to do with it, I think you’ll be alright. Just tell me if he tries anything you don’t like, okay?” I looked up from a box of obnoxious gold glitter glue.

            “What?! What do you mean ‘the way he looked at me’?” Vicky then acted like she was deaf, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU GOTHIC MOSQUITO?!” Then she proceeded to just laugh at me.

\--Put too much edge in a room and someone’s going to get cut.—

            About twenty till closing Sans came strolling in like he owned the place.

            “Hey, pixie. Your bone boy’s here.”

            “He’s not my bone boy!” I hissed at her before turning back around to face Sans, “Hey, Sans! You’re here a little early. We still have about twenty minutes till closing.” Sans just shrugged.

            “I was a bit curious ‘bout this place. Figured I’d roam around a bit and take a look.” I sniggered a little.

            “There’s a lot to see, Sans. Just try not to get lost, okay?” it was a pretty big store after all. The look on Sans face was amusement, which I easily returned. We’ll see if I have to go hunting soon enough. I went back to sweeping the floor and waited patiently for the clock to move along.

            Twenty minutes later we were ready to close, all I had to do was check the aisles for stragglers (not that there were ever any) and Sans. I found him looking a little peaked in the very back, trying to decipher how he found the looming section. He seemed relieved to find me.

            “Hey, sweetheart. Closing time?” I laughed a little as he rushed over to my side, quickly throwing an arm over my shoulder.

            “Yep. Ready to go, or do you want to look at the scrapbooking aisle next?”

            “There’s a scrapbook aisle?” I snorted and gently guided him to the front where Vicky was waiting with a smug look. I glared at her as we stepped outside, allowing her to lock the door behind us.

            “I guess I’ll see you two later then?” Sans smirked at Vicky as though he was challenging her.

            “You bet.” Vicky’s smile grew sharp.

            “ _Great_. See ya later, pixie!”

            “Bye Vicky!” I waved at her briefly before turning to walk home, “So, Sans. How was your day?”

            “Pretty uneventful. Yours?”

            “The same. I mostly just stock the aisles and occasionally lead people to what they want.” and we just talked. Nothing really heavy, but it was nice. I actually forgot about how scary it was just _yesterday_ night. I felt safe with Sans… yeah, it was nice. We stopped at my apartment, my arms naturally moving to give him a hug, which he returned, before going. “See ya later, Sans.” Sans smiled softly.

            “Yep. See ya, sweetheart.” I went into my apartment and took a shower, intent on at least finishing one of the commissions I was given earlier that day. To be honest, they weren’t difficult requests. The old customer’s commission could be done in two hours, the monster one about three. Considering I didn’t have anything else to do on Sundays, I settled down to work on the commissions. It was the more interesting way to earn a paycheck, after all.

            By three in the morning I was finished, my eyes tired and every part of me just wanting to go to sleep. I scoured the pictures for any flaws and prepared to send them off. When they passed my inspection I sent it and went to sleep. My ass was out.

\--Is that plot I see?—

            Darkness swirled around me, pressing in at all sides. Sound was distorted and grating. I heard things but I could not comprehend.

**_Dark._ **

**_Darker._ **

**_Yet darker._ **

**_…_ **

**_This is an interesting development…_ **

**_What would those two think of it?_ **

            I felt something slide across my face as the darkness constricted. Ink. It felt like ink.

**_What strange power your Soul holds… I believe you will suffice._ **

**_Not yet, but soon._ **

**_…_ **

**_The Void shall be my home, no longer._ **

            I jerked awake, my mind scrambled as I tried to recall what I was dreaming of. It was dark… there was _ink_ … and a voice? I shook my head and checked the time. _Six O’ clock_? Oh hell no. I flopped back over and closed my eyes, sleep welcoming me back instantly.

\--What, did you expect _only_ romance? Pft. How plebian.—

            It was a bit more juggling around with his time, but Sans didn’t mind being on call for Anna. She still had yet to be bothered by his physical touch, so with every meeting, he made sure to casually embrace her. Just, small touches, preferably on her skin. He heard from somewhere that consistent physical affection can create a subconscious trust or affection. Two weeks after he got her phone number, it seemed to be paying off.

            “Hey, Sans?” She asked hesitantly at the door to her apartment. She seemed nervous, but Sans only got the feeling that something _great_ was going to happen.

            “Yeah, sweetheart?” She looked at him, that fucking hopeful look that made him want to do public service shit to prove he was as great as she thought he was. A real smuck, but one that (hopefully) she would never regret being with.

            “I have Netflix… if you don’t need to be home for a while, want to watch something with me?” it wasn’t ‘Netflix and Chill’, but he’d take it. He’d probably have an aneurism if she was that forward anyway. She was so… so nice and fucking _innocent_ in his eyes that it almost seemed wrong… but he wasn’t a pillar of good influence anyway, so it didn’t bother him _quite_ that much to imagine shit like that. His magic thrummed happily in his chest as he smiled.

            “Nah, Paps is working late tonight. What kind of show do you have in mind?” Then she did it. She took his hand. The world seemed to slow for that glorious moment as he took in how _soft_ and _warm_ her hand was. Smaller than his and delicate. After two weeks, he’d always been the one to initiate contact. Even those fucking hugs (which he was particularly fond of, except that they were usually when she was saying good bye) were made when he already had his arm around her shoulder. He fought against the warm bubbling of his magic as his cheek bones darkened to a soft shade of cherry red. She laughed, the sound ringing in his skull, as she pulled him into her apartment and towards the couch.

            “We can look around for something you’d like. I’m really not picky. But if it’s a scary movie, I might accidentally choke you.” _Yep._ _It was decided. He was going to pick the scariest movie he knew of. Hell yeah._ He looked at the TV with the row of paper birds.

            “You really like the… uh, shit… _origami?_ Origami thing, don’t you?” He heard an affirmative hum from the kitchen.

            “Yeah. What would you like to drink? I’ve got some southern style sweet tea (meaning it’s cold and likely to give you diabetes), some tea bags for hot tea, Sprite, and straight up water.” Sans considered for a moment. _Should he?_ Hell, why not.

            “Do you have a bottle of mustard?” his question was met with silence.

            “No… no way… you _don’t_!” He turned his head and laughed at her horrified expression before nodding. Her nose scrunched up in disgust as she shook her head. She grabbed something from the fridge and sat down two bottles on the table. A bottle of Sprite and a decent sized bottle of mustard. She walked away and grabbed two blankets, turning out the lights on her way back to the living room. She flopped down next to him and handed the remote over. She shook her head as she unfolded the blankets.

            “Alright then… say, where did you learn to do that?” She stiffened a little but relaxed as she reached for a sticky note pad and removed one, her fingers nimble as they perfectly creased the lime green paper into the shape of a rose.

            “My… my brother taught me a little. W-While he was… before…” He brought his arm around her waist and pulled her against his side.

            “You don’t have to say any more, sweetheart. Ah, Insidious. _Perfect_.” He growled viciously with a smirk. Anna gasped and whispered under her breath.

            “ _Traitor!_ ” He then soaked in the fringe benefits of having what was possibly the most jumpy girl he had ever seen clinging to him for the duration of the movie. _It. Was. Glorious_. After that, he felt a little bit bad, she seemed so rattled.

            “Hey, why don’t I put on one more movie. Nothing scary or anything. Sound like a plan?” Judging by the glare she gave him, if he wanted his bones intact it better not be anything remotely terrifying. He picked a bright and cheerful looking film. Disney’s Enchanted. That should be a nice apology. His ego wasn’t so fragile that a Disney film threatened it, but they were a bit sappy for his taste. He knew he chose well when she fell asleep against his chest barely a third of the way through. This time, he let his magic bubble up and stain what felt like his entire body a shade of cherry red. _Yeah… this was a great idea._ He pulled out his phone and snapped a picture of the two of them together. He may have looked like he bathed in cough medicine or blood, but it was worth it to keep a picture of her so relaxed and trusting. He ran a hand through her hair and enjoyed the small sighs of contentment she made.

            But then his consciousness started to bug him. Sure, it was comfortable now, but it likely wouldn’t be by the time she woke up in the morning. Not to mention the fact that she had a bed, at least, he thought she did. So, it was with great reluctance that he lifted her up into his arms and walked down the only hallway the apartment had. All the way at the end was a neat little bedroom. Just like he expected. Various art shit was scattered around but the bed was completely clear and neatly made. A small tug with his magic pulled the blanket back so he could smoothly tuck her in, his chest tingling at the noise of disagreement she made when he pulled away. He could stay, but he wasn’t sure if it was rude or not. He decided to mull if over while he cleaned up a bit. Empty bottles of Sprite and mustard went into the trash, the Netflix was turned off as well as the TV, and he had reluctantly decided to leave and text her in the morning. Then he heard it. Sobbing.

            Light on his feet he made his way back to her bedroom and looked in. Tears streamed down her soft red face as small whimpers and sobs fell from her lips. Quietly, he removed his jacket and shoes, resolving himself to whatever negative reaction he’d receive in the morning. Right now, she needed him. Slipping under the covers he pulled her pliant body into his arms, gently crooning in her ear. His thumbs gently wiping away tears only for more to replace them. Her fingers clutched at his shirt in desperation but she still seemed trapped inside what the fuck ever was haunting her. Sighing, he let his magic fill his bones until they glowed a soft and luminescent red. He pushed every soft emotion he had for Anna rise to the surface. Tender affection. Love. And even a little bit of the more lewd stuff, but mostly just soft emotion. He watched as her expression eased and she borrowed into his chest, as though to dive into the warmth, physical and emotional, that he exuded. She quieted down and fell into a deep and restful sleep.

            He allowed himself a small moment of fantasy. That she was awake and wholly aware of how poignant a confession that was for a monster and she accepted it, if not returned it entirely. But then she made this cute little chuffing sound and her grip eased so she could throw her arm over his chest and lightly grip the back of his shirt. And the fantasy was ruined. But he could live with that. For now. At least she _embraced_ his feelings for her in some way. And with that, he fell asleep warmer than he had ever been before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I meant to post this last night, but literally just as I was about to click 'post', the power went out. Including the WiFi. But, since I couldn't do so last night, I was awake and considering a slightly different change to this chapter, which I added. Mostly for cutes and small romance building. Literally everything from when he takes a picture and till the end is content that wouldn't have been there if a thunderstorm hadn't of swept through. So... go mother nature?! Just this once?! I guess?
> 
> And just in case any of you guys are concerned that Anna's magic power will be OP, let me assure you that it is quite limited. Partly by Anna herself and partly because of what it's basic ability is. Hint, There's a reason the first chapter title was about 'Animus', which is latin for life or possibly to bring something to life. As you may have noticed, it's only art stuff that it works on, and since we don't have zombie Brian, we can assume that people aren't an option. Or at least, not one that she's willing to choose. Cool, but certainly not all powerful considering what the main cast is capable of. I mean, Sans can teleport, make bones, Gaster Blasters, and has some manipulation of the battle mechanics in Undertale. Such as invisiblity frames and dodging (though i'm not 100% on if none of the other characters can dodge or not). Asgore can obliverate a menu OPTION! Holy shit that broke me when he did that in the game. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!


	7. Paper Cranes Can Fly, Why Are You Even Surprised Sans?

            It was a nightmare of paint smears and sobbing. Moving portraits and pain. So much pain, it felt like my heart was being split in two.

_I didn’t mean to hurt you!_

**_How could I do this to his memory?_ **

**_Just to be happy again?_ **

**_No…_ **

**_I don’t deserve to be happy. Not after doing that._ **

_Please, Annie, it’s okay! It’s going to be okay!_

            Then my entire being was flooded with warmth and the feeling of being _loved_. It was soft, sweet, and just a touch of something… _edgy_. Paint gave way to cherry red and gentle smiles. I was no longer plagued by what was, but soothed by what _could_ be. Hours melted away, the cherry red fading away but the feeling never truly leaving, and when I woke a familiar name was on my lips but never spoken. _Sans_.

            My eyes opened up to see knitted red fabric and I felt the firm bones of Sans arms around me. One hand cupping my scalp through my hair and the other low on my waist. My own arms were wrapped around Sans’ chest (WHAT AM I HOLDING ONTO?! ‘CAUSE IT’S NOT BONES!?) and our legs were rather tangled up. It seems as though, sometime in the night, Sans moved us to my bed. He also took off his shoes and jacket, thankfully. I didn’t really mind much. I know he wouldn’t do anything weird. Sans was… Sans was very honest and different from anything I could imagine. Sort of like Vicky, but different. These two people were like spots of color in a landscape of gray. Papyrus and Judy were like that too, but more muted. I didn’t know them very well. Sans snorted a little, a puff of air blowing across my forehead and bringing my attention back to him.

            His eye sockets were… closed? Up close, it looked rather like some of the functions of his face were just like in a humans. There were subtle ridges above his eyes that looked like eye brows and despite never fully closing, the mobile opening that I had wondered over a long time ago functioned sort of like a mouth. I tilted my head a little and noticed how I couldn’t see the inside of his mouth like with a normal skeleton. Not for the first time, I wondered at how Sans functioned, but the answer would probably be _magic_. Deciding to put the question away for a while, I tightened my grip around him and rocked the two of us a bit.

            “Sans. Sans. Sansy~” He grumbled a bit, his grip tightening and bringing me closer, “Sans, wake up! I gotta go to the bathroom!” he growled under his breath.

            “nooo…” I almost couldn’t hear his little whine. I couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up.

            “Come on, lazy bones. Cuddling is nice, but nature calls.”

            “…wrong number.” Pft.

            “No, Sans. Nature doesn’t call the wrong number.”

            “It does today.” I see the lights peeking out of your sockets, you shit.

            “Sans!” with the most put-upon sigh I’d ever heard, he pulled his arms away, finally freeing me. “Freedom!” I dashed to the bathroom, studiously ignoring the chuckle I heard behind me. A quick flush later and I brushed my teeth, determined to rid myself of morning breath.

            “Hey, want to go somewhere for… brunch? Yeah, brunch.” Sans asked from the other side of the door. I felt a little bad. For the most part, Sans would buy food for me since I was rather broke. But I could manage to make something.

            “Actually, if you don’t mind hanging around for a bit longer, I could make something.” I spit out the toothpaste and rinsed my toothbrush.

            “…Oh? You can cook?” I snorted.

            “Such lack of faith! Excuse you, but I can make amazing pancakes, for your information.” I said primly as I opened the door and mock glared at him. His brow bone (?) raised up as he stepped to the side and gestured me to go on ahead. Apparently, he really didn’t believe me. Well then, I’ll just have to show _him_. In the back of my mind, I wondered if I should tell him about what I could do… I shook my head. Not yet. But maybe I can give him and Papyrus an invitation to my graduation. Only a month and a half away.

            I settled on making chocolate chip pancakes and started measuring out the ingredients, Sans watched from on the couch like he wasn’t sitting in front of a TV. As I poured the batter onto a skillet with a spatula at the ready I nervously glanced at Sans.

            “Uhm… hey, Sans?” he smiled and tilted his head to the side in curiosity.

            “Yes?”

            “So… remember when I told you I was finishing up college this semester?” his eyes flashed with some soft emotion that I couldn’t quite identify.

            “Yeah, what about it.”

            “Well, I was wondering… if you and Papyrus weren’t busy that day… uhm… w-well, if you. You wouldn’t mind… going… to graduation.” I flipped a pancake nervously and nearly panicked when I noticed a paper crane shift on its own, “Mine. Uh. My graduation. Yeah. I mean, you don’t have to, but if you wanted—“

            “Sure.” I stopped in my tracks, only just barely registering that I was still flipping the pancake needlessly before stopping. I turned my head and looked at him, an unsure smile on my lips that was mirrored by his confident smirk.

            “Really?!” my own parents wouldn’t be going… since I hadn’t spoken to them in years… but now I wouldn’t be alone.

 _Being alone is the only thing_ real _anymore_.

            “Sure. I know Papyrus would be thrilled to go to your graduation. He might even make you spaghetti to celebrate the occasion…” I was so happy I didn’t even notice several cranes take flight, “Uh, Anna… is… is that paper bird thingy flying?” my eyes went wide as I looked over to the counter where five cranes playfully fluttered about. I felt all the blood drain from my face and they instantly fell motionless, their paper forms softly tapping against the counter. I spun around and focused on finishing the pancakes. In my distraction, I had finished all but the last one.

            “Hahaha… Sans, they’re made of paper. I mean, they’re birds, sure, but _paper_ can’t fly. Silly Sans.” my voice was dead and my laugh mechanical as I put the last pancake on a plate, “H-How many pancakes would you—“ Sans arm reached around me to turn off the stove and I was suddenly aware of how caged in I was. Panic bubbled up in my chest as Sans wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me against his chest.

            “Sweetheart, it’s _okay_. You can tell me, I promise.” He whispered against my neck, his words tickling against my skin. A small whimper fell from my lips and Sans squeezed me reassuringly.

            “S-Sans…?”

            “I’m a walking, talking skeleton, babe. I’m not going to spook because your paper crafts flutter about. Come on, we can eat while you think on it, alright sweetheart?” I shakily nodded as his arms withdrew and put four pancakes on each plate and grabbed the syrup. I got out the silverware and cups already filled with tea (when did they get poured?) and shakily walked over to the couch with him. He gave me space and silence, letting me gather my thoughts as I considered how I would tell him. I poured a generous amount of syrup on my pancakes and started eating, Sans rubbing my back softly before doing the same. He took a bite and hummed in appreciation.

            “This is really good, Sweetheart. The only thing that could make it better would be lots a _mustard_.” I nearly choked and had to swallow a mouthful of tea to get the bit of bread to go down.

            “ _D-Don’t you dare!_ ” I sputtered with laughter, my panic evaporating as he laughed too. Easy now. Breath. I could do this. Sans winked at me before taking another big bite. My heartbeat quickened slightly and I shook my head. “Well… it’s a little… complicated.” Sans smiled and raised his free hand, a soft red glow lighting up as the syrup gently floated back to the kitchen.

            “…Does it work like that?” I shook my head, my mind reeling. He had never really used magic around me before. I mean, I knew he could do it. He disappeared right before my eyes once, and it was a well-known fact that monsters could use magic. But he had never deliberately used magic like that before.

            “No… it’s a little different.” I considered my words carefully, “It’s like… I can make things move, but only as I expect them to? I mean, they kind of come to life, more or less. Paper cranes can fly, frogs will hop, and if I make it right, flowers will bloom. Illustrations kind of do too, but only what’s portrayed. Like, they are stuck within their frame and if they turn around somehow nothing’s there. They’re flat, so to speak, unless I really concentrate. It doesn’t work with electronic things though, so that’s what I prefer to work with as far as art goes.” Sans nodded.

            “So, what about statues? Like, little figurines and shit?”

            “About the same as the paper crafts. They’re still the material they’re made of, just more… animated? Like, a paper bird probably won’t last in the rain, a metal sculpture of one would probably get hit by lightning, and ceramic anything would break if it wasn’t careful. Shit like that. It’s almost like… besides the medium, whatever I bring to life is only really limited by what I know or think they do.” Sans finished his pancakes and tapped his chin in contemplation.

            “Have you ever tried to make something do what it’s not meant to? Like, a fish fly?” I laughed a little, relaxing a bit more.

            “Actually, that’s kind of easy. It looks weird, because I think of it more like the fish moving as though it’s in water, but if I tried the same with, say, a turtle… it doesn’t feel right? Like, I feel resistance? As though I’m stretching a rubber band and it’s about to snap.” Sans considered that for a moment.

            “How long have you been able to do this?” that’s an interesting question.

            “I’m not sure how long I’ve been _able_ to do it, but I’ve actively done it since I was fourteen… since Brian showed me how to make paper cranes. He’s the only one who ever knew...” I looked him in the eye for the first time since he questioned why the paper cranes could fly, “Y-You’re not… freaked out? O-Or… scared? Mad? Anything?” Sans huffed and grabbed my hand, bringing it up to cup his face, a small teasing smile on his face.

            “Such lack of faith.” His face turned a soft shade of cherry red and I felt familiar feelings of love and affection, but they didn’t come from me. His face felt so warm and smooth, but it wasn’t as hard as I expected it to be. More like a thin layer of memory foam that’s really stiff. Just a little give, but not a whole lot.

            “How…” Sans turned a little darker but those feelings didn’t increase. They felt… sharper, but sweeter somehow.

            “It’s a thing monsters can do. Usually, we only do it for baby bones and uhm…” his whole skull turned darker, “lovers. Anyway, it’s because of what we are. Physically. Or rather, what we’re not. See, I’m not quite made of bones, like a human skeleton is. I look like it, but that’s not quite what it is. Monsters are made up of magic, Soul, and some of the old books had tripe about compassion and shit. Our Souls aren’t as strong as human Souls, probably because it’s mostly focused on making our magic and maintaining our physical forms. No two monsters look exactly alike because every Soul is different.” He shook his head, “I’m getting off topic though. For monsters, our emotions can change everything. With certain emotions, we can literally become stronger… or weaker. By using our magic and pushing those emotions to the surface, we can make others feel what _we feel_ to a degree. Humans can’t really do that because you’re so… physical. Well, made of real physical stuff. But monsters, like I said before, are made mostly of magic and dust.” I felt a little confused.

            “Dust?”

            “Oh… well, we’re not sure why dust, specifically, but when we die, our Souls are too weak to persist. So, the only thing left of us is dust. It’s why some monsters may be messy, but you’ll never find a monster home that has _dust_ … it’s a bit creepy for us.” I nodded my head in understanding. I’d freak out if blood just randomly appeared if I didn’t clean enough too.

            “So… why is it, when I hug you, I don’t feel your rib cage. Do you even have one?” I whispered incredulously. Sans just laughed.

            “Course I do! It’s just a part of my make-up. Papyrus doesn’t have it to the extent I do, but the both of us have this… sort of porous layer of magic around our bones. Some areas are really close to the bones or thin, like my hands, but others give quite a bit of space between my bones and everything else. Like my torso. It’s not entirely solid, it’s just mostly to keep the nooks and crannies clean and protect the more sensitive parts. If you pushed enough and for long enough, you could go through, but it feels really _weird_ and I’d rather you didn’t. At least, not unless I purposefully pull it in.” Sans shivered and my face twisted in consideration.

            “So… what you’re saying is… you’re really ticklish?” Sans’ eyes widened as he looked a little panicked.

            “Woah! No! Absolutely not!” his voice had just enough of an edge that I knew that, while I wasn’t really wrong, that wasn’t all it was. I narrowed my eyes and smirked, a chuckle leaving my chest.

            “I’ll get you, my pretty!” I cackled as I grabbed the now empty plates and put them in the sink. I didn’t expect him to follow me.

            “If it’s the last thing I do!” Sans finished in a high pitched cackle as his phalanges dug into my sides. I jumped and tried not to laugh, but to no avail as he continued mercilessly until I felt boneless and out of breath.

            “Sans! Haha! Stop! Please! U-Uncle! Uncle!”

            I may not have planned to tell him about the strange magic I could do, but I didn’t regret it. His reaction wasn’t something I could predict and my chest grew warm as he pulled me close to his chest, laughter muffled in the material of my shirt. He was so sweet and understanding, my already fast pulse skipping slightly. He was exactly what I needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I meant for this particular event to take a bit longer, but then I was writing the invite scene and it literally ran away from me. And I love it when that happens, because it always feels spontaneous and oddly natural. Papyrus won't be told until she spends more time with him, which will probably be soon if Sans wants to make her feel closer to him after this. This chapter also allowed me to explain more of her powers and a little bit of a cultural/physiological monster thing that I hinted at in the last chapter? I think? But anyway, just a small note, everything will be explained eventually I swear, but no, the dream wasn't InkSans. I almost wrote a thing where Sans dreams he meets InkSans and Ink's like "The dream isn't me! Remember that!" and Sans is all like "Who the fuck are you?!". Hell, I might still write that, who knows. My room mate thinks I have a thing where I feel the need to Save everyone in this damn fandom. In this case, it's more like Gaster wasn't exactly an angel and he ain't going to just be content, forever lost in the Void when he thinks there's a way out. Like most Underfell characters in this, he's not... totally bad, but he is at least morally dark gray. If getting out means Anna dies, he'll do it. Ends versus the means, you know? In the other two fanfics I wrote, he was very resigned, but that's Undertale Gaster. Not Underfell Gaster. And I'm not 100% on InkSans powers, but I am familiar with him, and no. Anna doesn't have his abilities. That's all i'm saying on the matter before I spoil anything else. I was just wanting to clear that up and warn you guys about the not-so-fluffy-plot approaching. Just so no one flips too hard. Anyway, the potential that I spoil you guys aside, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well! If you have any particular requests or questions, feel free to ask!


	8. Birds and Stones

            Sans felt breathless as looked down at Anna, her face a bright shade of red and panting for breath. Her laughter was intoxicating and he had to restrain the more inappropriate thoughts that came to mind. Anna having magic didn’t really bother him very much, since it wasn’t like he didn’t have magic himself. But he knew that most other humans, and even some monsters, wouldn’t react well to that. They had all just assumed that humans had lost their magic… but maybe it just evolved into little things. Belatedly, he realized that he would need to find a way to tell Papyrus. He had no intention of breaking her trust, but he had never really been good at hiding things from his brother. Perceptive bastard had a way of just _seeing_ shit, for as naïve as he may occasionally appear. But he wasn’t going to break her trust, not after all the hard work he put into earning it. He hadn’t even groped her ass since the night he saved her from those… _louts_.

            Speaking of, he hadn’t seen them around. He knew their type. They wouldn’t give up easily. Then, he had an idea. So many birds with a single stone.

            “Hey, babe?” golden eyes looked up at him quizzically, “I’m not good at keeping things from Papyrus… so how about you hang out at my place, like we did here, until you feel comfortable with him knowing?” Her brows furrowed in worry and she looked down, her eyes turning into a dull amber. “Hey, now, none of that. My bro’s a stand up kind of guy and I ain’t saying you gotta tell him the minute you go through the door. In fact, you don’t even have to tell him, if you don’t want. I’ll do it for you. But only when you’re comfortable with him knowing, alright?” She turned in his arms and hugged his chest. Idly, he wondered if it wasn’t total trust, so much as it was that she was just an affectionate person. It would certainly explain how easy it was for him to just casually embrace her whenever. _He was going to return that affection whenever possible. There was no way he was going to let her go without, particularly when it was so easy for him to give_. Not to mention rewarding.

            “Alright. I have work today though, so… sleepover?” He snorted a little.

            “Only fair since I slept over at your place… say, is anyone else going to be at your graduation? Besides Papyrus and I?” she looked off in the distance and considered it.

            “I was thinking about inviting Vicky and Judy.” Ah. He remembered her telling him about Judy. Apparently she could sort of see the future? Just one more bit of proof that human magic evolved after so long. He doubted any of them could see the future with any regularity way back when. He also noticed how she didn’t mention other family members, likely because they didn’t talk anymore. He wasn’t going to pry. She had already shared so much with him this morning.

            “Sounds like a plan. Want to invite him yourself tonight when you come by or…?” she nuzzled into the fabric of his sweater.

            “I-I’ll ask him tonight… he _is_ okay with me coming over, right?” Sans laughed a little.

            “I’ll walk you to work and make sure he’s cool with it. When I pick you up after work I’ll take you back to your place to either hang out again or pick up some clothes.” He ran a hand through her short hair reassuringly and smiled. He was pretty sure Papyrus would be alright with it, considering how much he’s cut down on grumbling about his taste in females as of late. Though that might be because he wasn’t chasing random tail anymore. She pulled away and headed to her bedroom, probably to change.

            “I’m going to take a quick shower and get ready for work. Feel free to watch whatever, I won’t take long.” He snorted a little and flopped down on the couch, allowing everything he’s learned so far to sink in. Like, really sink in. His mind kept spinning around how she handled the information about himself. Particularly the empathy thing. He put his hands over his face and let his bones become awash in red. She didn’t freak out or become disgusted with the emotion he felt for her, if she even connected the dots that they even _were for her_. Sometimes, it was frustrating to woo someone that just _didn’t get it_. Secretly, he hoped the realization would crash down on her while he was there, just so he could see _her_ face turn red again. Fuck. He felt like a possessive freak when she blushed and all he could think about was how she looked like she was covered in his magic. A lewd freak of nature. He groaned as the sound of running water registered in his mind. _Aaaannd great. Now he had_ that _to add into the imagery too._

            After about fifteen minutes of praying for a swift end to his torment he heard the shower turn off. He sighed in relief and put on his shoes and jacket. He had a feeling that, while it would be _wonderful_ to be with Anna, it would also bring about a whole new level of frustration for him. He sucked in a gulp of air through his teeth when Anna walked into the living room in a dark red button up shirt, her skin flushed from the hot shower, and her short hair a damp mess from being towel dried. He coughed a little and walked over, charging his hands with warm magic until the bones looked like hot iron.

            “Here, no need to get a cold.” His voice was too damn rough, but she didn’t seem to notice. She was too blissed out at the warm and gentle massage to her scalp. The water quickly evaporated and he switched to just grooming her hair into something resembling order, thankful that the locks were too short to get tangled in his phalanges. And he’d be damned if the fucking groan of pleasure she made _didn’t_ just go straight to the center of his bones. Fuck, he needed to hurry up, or he was liable to fucking _break_ something. Too soon but not soon enough, he pulled his hands away, feeling entirely too smug at the small whimper she made and how she leaned into him just a tad too much.

            “If you ever decide to become a masseuse, I demand to have regular sessions Sans, holy shit.” _Did she just fucking demand he fondl—massage her?_ Yep. It was official. This was hell. This pseudo-plane of existence was the epitome of hell. Close enough that she could say shit like _that_ , but not so much that he could just—he quickly derailed that train of thought.

            “Heh, I’m not much for touching strangers, sweetheart.” _Jesus Christ, was that_ supposed _to have the subtlety of a black hole?_ “’Sides, most humans panic when a monster comes at them with magic coating their hands.” She made a cute little snort and reached for her jackets. Good. Maybe with a few more layers he can stop thinking like _a lewd fucking bastard_.

            He was glad for the cool breeze blowing through. Helped clear his head as he kept a firm arm around her shoulders and glared at anyone looking too close. _Nosey fucking bastards_. By the time they made it to Hobby Lobby, the crafts maze from hell, Vicky was standing outside and giving him the stink eye. He wasn’t fooled, he could see affection in that glare. He grinned sharply, fully aware that it was one of his more lewd smiles, and gave Anna a firm hug before leaving her to it. With one last glance at his incredibly empty surroundings, he popped into his own neighborhood. Papyrus should be back by now.

            Thankfully he was, though he seemed to be messing around in the kitchen for something.

            “Hey, bro! I got a favor to ask.” Papyrus leaned through the kitchen doorway with narrowed eye sockets.

            “And exactly what do you wish to ask for, you lazy bonehead? If you wish for me to frighten off your one night stand again, I will make you deep clean the entire apartment, Sans.” Sans huffed at the implication. He had standards! He wouldn’t romance a chick and sleep around at the same time.

            “Actually, I didn’t hook up with anyone last night. Remember how I told you about that human lady I’ve been wooing?” Papyrus raised a brow bone at him.

            “Yes, though I don’t know why you’re mentioning your puppy love.”

            “Well, you’ve actually met before. The human, that is.” Papyrus snorted and went back into the kitchen, disbelief clear in his expression, “Her name is Anna.” Cookware clattered in the kitchen as Papyrus appeared back in the doorway.

            “WHAT?!” He pulled himself back together before continuing, “I mean, oh really now?” Sans snorted to himself.

            “Yeah. I’ve been hanging out with her for about two weeks now. Just last night she asked if I wanted to watch a movie with her and I ended up staying the night.” Disapproval came off Papyrus in waves, “Hey now! It’s not what you think! I… we didn’t do anything. _Unfortunately_. But she doesn’t really have many friends, so I figured it would be nice if she spent the night here. Just hanged out, ya know?” Papyrus glared at him from across the room.

            “Is it truly the same human I met in the grocery store?”

            “She mentioned meeting a skeleton called Papyrus that liked pasta. Also mentioned you saving her from two… _assholes_ bothering her.” Papyrus looked conflicted.

            “The… the way you say that… did they, perhaps, bother her again?” for all of Papyrus’ tough exterior that he cultivated as a Royal Guardsman, he idolized knights when he was a baby bones. He was intimidating, didn’t take shit from anyone, and was a bit of a hard ass, but he had a code of honor. Like most of the Royal Guardsman.

            “Yeah. She was smart enough to run before they could catch her and ran into me. I scared them off but insisted on walked her to work and home ever since.” Papyrus nodded in approval, “They aren’t exactly the type to just let shit go, so I’ve been working on getting closer to her. Making sure she’s not alone for too long.” Papyrus let out a huff of laughter.

            “Purely from the bottom of your heart and Soul, I’m sure.” Sans could feel the blush cover his skull in a pale pink and Papyrus laughed harder, “OH MY—oh my Delta! You really do have a crush, don’t you, you lazy bones!” Papyrus laughed a little harder and actually slapped his knees.

            “A bit deeper than that…” Sans muttered, but unfortunately, Papyrus heard loud and clear and looked at him in astonishment.

            “Sans…” he huffed in mock anger and turned around, “Very well then. You may invite the human over for a sleep over… but you will have to clean, brother! I refuse to have guests over and have the apartment look like a pig sty!” Sans grinned happily. Everything was going according to plan! Now… to clean up this fucking place before Anna got off work. Maybe take a break or two and check up on people who owe him money. Something to work off this nervous energy he suddenly had! Fuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I was typing this shit up and my room mate spots the words "lewd fucking bastard" and immediately can't compute that I wrote anything even remotely inappropriate. But I have to admit, it was a really fucking fun to write slightly sexually frustrated Sans. I mean, it would be a bit weird if Sans (as I have written him thus far as something of a player that's a little rough around the edges) didn't think at least something along these lines. Not that i'm saying hetero males can't think of anything that isn't sex related (and it's not like i'm a hetero male myself to say so either way) but he is interacting with a very hard core crush in rather intimate settings. This Sans isn't exactly pure snowflake. But i'm a double Demi myself (Demi-sexual and Demi-romantic) that's never been in a relationship before, so this is very... interesting to write. If you guys have anything to say in the way of questions, suggestions, or requests please do ask.
> 
> While i'm on the topic though, how do you guys feel about smut? It won't happen until Anna and Sans have been official for a while (my own stipulation really) if at all, but I wanted to test the waters now so I can psych myself up for that. It's not really... important, so to speak, but if i'm doing romance, I might as well go all the way. Pun totally intended. For as long as it isn't totally sacrilegious for you guys. I've worked hard to write this cute shit and i'll be damned if I ruin it just to see if I could!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter~!


	9. Paper Crafts and Magic Acts

            All during work I felt like a giant weight had been lifted off my shoulders. For years I never had anyone to talk to about my weird magical power, and suddenly, bam! And Sans… Sans didn’t get mad or judgmental. He asked questions and shared stuff about himself too. It was like… he honestly didn’t care. From the tips of my toes to the top of my head, I felt so _warm_ and _light_. It had honestly been so long since I’d felt so… happy.

            Vicky even noticed, though most of her energy seemed focused on insinuating something, what exactly, I wasn’t sure, but I will assume it was indecent. Especially that weird comment of ‘the bone zone’. Sounds like a metaphor for a graveyard or some shit. So, when it finally hit closing time and Sans stood outside waiting, I was ready to go. I was a little nervous about the potential sleepover, sure, but seeing him was almost enough to cast all that worry and doubt away.

            “Go on ahead to your lover boy, pixie. I got this.” I snorted and gave her one last hug before walking outside. I had to fight myself to not just prance outside and hug him.

            “Hey, sweetheart. Papyrus gave the all clear. I even cleaned up… say, you wanna walk or see another one of my tricks?” I hugged him, my heart feeling warm and fuzzy as I considered the matter.

            “What kind of magic trick?” Sans chuckled and held me tighter.

            “Just close your eyes and don’t let go.” I gripped the back of his jacket a little harder and shivered at the sudden cold and disorienting breeze that whipped by. Sans rumbling laughter vibrated through his ribcage, “You can let go now, sweetheart.” I pulled away in confusion and gasped. We were literally right outside my door.

            “That is so cool!” I reached for my keys and unlocked the door, “Can you go anywhere or is it just certain places?!” Sans shut the door behind him and laughed.

            “In the underground, there were places with… shortcuts, so to speak, so it wasn’t like I could just go wherever whenever. But up here the environment grew without large amounts of magic to structure the shortcuts. So, as long as I’ve been there before, I can go there again.” Sans looked sheepish but proud at my dumbfounded expression, “Ya going to get your stuff or will you just wear that all night?” I shook my head and dashed for my bedroom. It was only for one night, so it wasn’t like I needed much. Studiously ignoring the quilt blanket at the top of the closet, I grabbed a messenger bag and packed decent flannel pajamas, jeans, undergarments, and a plain red shirt. A quick trip to the bathroom and I had all the toiletries I needed.

            “Alright, I’ve got the necessities. Ready to go, Sans?” Sans looked up from the paper crane he was fiddling with and smiled.

            “Hey, why don’t you grab some paper? My bro likes figuring things out, so maybe you can teach him how to make some things?” I was a little uncertain, but the thought of just casually showing someone else how to do origami was… nice. So, I went and grabbed the paper I usually never bothered to use. It would probably be easier to start out with actual pieces of paper rather than post it notes.

            “Alright, _now_ I’m ready to go… are we taking a shortcut or the scenic route?” Sans grinned mischievously and reached for my hand. I cautiously grabbed his hand, a small squeak leaving me when he pulled me to his chest. While my face was buried in the scruff of his jacket a cold breeze whipped by. As I suspected, when I pulled away, we were in front of a completely different door. “Wait! I didn’t lock my door!” Sans just laughed and opened the worn red door in front of us, ushering me inside first despite my fretting.

            “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I locked it before we left.” He turned towards the direction of an open doorway, “Hey, Papyrus! I’m back with Anna.” I looked at the relatively sparse living room. It was bigger than my apartment, but it was clearly more used. The carpet was old and moderately stained, as was the beige couch. At least, I hope it was beige. A familiar skeleton peaked out of the open doorway to what looked like a relatively nice kitchen. Papyrus glared out, his expression softening when he looked over at me.

            “Hello, Anna. It is nice to see you in good health. I am making spaghetti at the moment, but feel free to make yourself at home. My lay-about of a brother cleaned before you arrived. _Surprisingly._ ” Oddly enough, I couldn’t detect any real anger in his words. Exasperation, sure, but no hate.

            “It’s nice to see you’re doing well too, Papyrus.” Sans put an arm around my shoulder and steered me over to the couch, lifting my bag away from my shoulder.

            “You’re sleeping in my bed, I’ll take the couch.” I gave him a startled look.

            “What? No! It’s _your_ house! I can sleep on the couch just fine.”

            “You are a guest, Anna! It is only the gentlemanly thing to do!” Papyrus declared from the kitchen. I narrowed my eyes at the kitchen doorway.

            “I refuse! It’s your house _and_ your bed!” I paused for a moment to find a solution. Oh, yeah, that’ll work, “Assuming your bed’s big enough, we can _both_ sleep in it. I don’t mind at all, but I refuse to kick you out of your own room!” There was a large clatter from the kitchen and Papyrus leaned out to give Sans a very pitying look. What was that for?

\--Been a while since the spaghetti master had a turn.—

            Papyrus was quite pleased with the changes in his brother. He may not be home as often as before, but it was no longer because he was out sleeping with strange human women with monster kinks. Now, it was because he was spending time cultivating a good relationship with just one human female. Knowing now that it was Anna, and that he had been walking her to and from her work place, Papyrus could admit he was proud of how Sans turned out.

            The underground wasn’t really a very nice place to grow up in. It was easy to run into corruption and fighting was second nature for most of the monsters down there. But he did his best to ensure his brother was strong. Both physically and of moral fiber. Just because they appeared unsavory does _not_ mean that they were to act like animals without any intelligence. The fact that he knew, from his vast experience in determining the different kinds of people in any situation, that Anna was of a decent sort only added to the rather delicious situation. Sure, she seemed a little… out of touch with people, but considering what most people were like in this city, that was probably a good thing.

            Still… as _strange_ as he found his brother’s tastes, he did feel sympathy for his situation. To… _long_ for someone who’s completely oblivious was not a pleasant place to be. With his object of affection it was literal distance and uncertainty, but Sans. Oh, Sans… he interacted _daily_ with Anna, who seemed wholly unaware of his intentions. As cynical as he was, even he doubted that Anna was only pretending to be oblivious when she suggested they both sleep in the same bed.

            He considered himself of a very high standard, but he doubted he could last under the pressure of such temptation without _slipping somehow_. Especially if Sans was as enamored as he suspected.

            “Oh… uhm, Papyrus?” he heard Anna ask uncertainly from the living room and peaked back out.

            “Yes, Anna?” he spared a glare at Sans’ entirely too pleased look at how red she was. _What a strange brother he had_.

            “I…I uhm… I was wondering if you would like to… well, I’m graduating in May and I was wondering if you would… possibly? Uh… go? If you want, I mean, I just wanted to ask and—“

            “Yes.” He said dismissively, causing her to look shocked and very happy. Okay, he can sort of see why his brother like her so much, “I will go to your graduation ceremony, Anna. You, very naturally, could not help but invite the Great and Terrible Papyrus to your incredibly important milestone of life. And because I am so Great! And Terrible—in a good way—I will go. Naturally.” He declared with as much pomp as he could. He did not, however, expect for Anna to launch herself at him and embrace his waist. He glared over her head at Sans, who looked like he needed an intense training session to straighten himself out. Smug bag of bones.

            “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” he awkwardly pat her head, which reached mid-rib cage, and tried to not appear soft. His reputation could not afford every emotional female to fling themselves at him in a burst of happiness. As much as such actions were understandable in the face of his greatness. Then, finally, she pulled away and skipped back to the couch, happily flopping besides his brother, who looked entirely too smug. Yes, he will clear his schedule solely to accommodate the unsavory attitude in his brother. Such things needed to be nipped at the bud before they took root and became a problem.

\--Because I favor the sinnamon roll too much, here we go.—

            After eating a very healthy plate of spaghetti, Sans decided it was time to slowly introduce his brother to the more… interesting secret Anna had.

            “Hey, bro? Anna has an interesting hobby. Why don’t you show him, sweetheart?” it was still mostly up to her if his brother learned her real secret, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before she gave in. Besides, his brother was great at training the younger monsters with their magic. His self-control was amazing, for all of his harsh exterior. Anna gave him a slightly drowned look before going along with it.

            “What is this hobby, Anna?” His brother leaned forward in interest. Papyrus was a bit of a hard ass, literally, and believed that everything deserved one hundred percent of his effort or nothing at all. He didn’t do anything by half. Ever.

            “Origami, have you heard of it?” Papyrus squinted in thought.

            “I think I have heard of it in passing. Would you care to show me, Anna?” Anna pulled a piece of red polka doted paper and expertly folded it into a crane. Then she got another piece of paper, this time with an odd looking pink and blue flannel pattern, and made a butterfly. The next piece of paper, a simple red, was quickly made into a bow. Every fold was made with deliberate precision that he almost couldn’t look away from her hands. Then he happened to glance at her face. It was softly lit with a little smirk as she occasionally glanced at Papyrus, who looked dumbfounded that it was possible to make such pretty things out of _paper_. It occurred to him then. _She’s showing off_. _She’s genuinely trying to impress them._ It made his ribs tingle with warmth. Almost as much as the small pleased blush did.

            “WOW!” Papyrus glanced at Sans almost guiltily and coughed, “I mean, I am greatly impressed, Anna! These tiny paper crafts are magnificent!” Anna smiled, suddenly appearing uncertain and glanced at Sans. He realized then, what she was asking, and rubbed her back reassuringly. Anna tensed slightly and took a deep breath.

            “That’s not all I can do, Papyrus.” And the butterfly and crane began to fly. Papyrus froze in surprise.

            …

            …

            …

            “I was unaware the art of paper folding gave said paper movement. Which part of folding allowed them to fly?” ah… it was moments like these that Sans saw a small glimmer of what his brother would be like if the underground was a kinder place. Sans and Anna snorted a little before laughing. Yeah, his brother’s short moments of misunderstanding were always golden… though, he had a strange feeling that he would be paying for this later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I almost didn't have Anna reveal her ability, but then I considered how wonderful she felt sharing it with Sans. Then the natural high that people experience when they share something that they're good at. Normally, she probably wouldn't tell unless she had to, but riding the double high (from telling Sans and showing off to Papyrus) she had just enough confidence to do so.
> 
> Then Papyrus shows his Undertale side. That sweet cinnamon roll side hidden under the black knight routine he has going on. 
> 
> It's also good to know you guys are so cool with it for the most part. The possibility of smut, that is.
> 
> I also like knowing you guys not only appreciate the dynamic the characters have, but the little jokes I throw out there as well. I firmly believe that life is always a low-key comedy. Mostly because i'm a smart ass most the time.
> 
> Anyway, same as usual. Any questions, concerns, or requests are welcome! Particularly if you just really want to see some sort of inane fluff thing. Like grocery shopping or randomly encountering a flash dance mob. Because, while my fluff doesn't have much actually happen, I try not to write something with zero going on. I'm afraid of boring, not only myself, but you guys as well. And I've been trying to slowly ease hints of Anna's growing feelings, have you guys been getting that or do I need to be more... I don't know, big with it? I'm trying not to have the "suddenly realized my feelings without any hints of such feelings beforehand" thing that occasionally pops up in romance. I mean, even Sans had something going on before realizing he was pretty deep in the feels, and he's damn near 90% Soul magic. So, emotions are kind of up front and center for him.
> 
> Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as well~!


	10. Papyrus is Supportive, but also a Shit.

            Well, this was a little awkward. I was expecting a variety of different reactions. Something similar to Sans, fear, or even anger… but nope. He missed the point entirely. It was actually pretty funny, for all of twelve seconds. I could have ran with it, too. But… something in my chest hurt at the thought of lying to him like that. To take advantage of his misunderstanding.

            “A-Actually… that’s… that’s not a part of origami. Uhm… Sans?” I looked over at Sans, a little helpless as to how I was supposed to correct him. Sans smiled softly in reassurance and winked at me.

            “Actually, bro, it’s magic.” Papyrus looked away from the fluttering paper butterfly and raised a brow at Sans.

            “You mean to say that humans did not lose their magic entirely?” Papyrus then looked at me, “This magic is quite amazing, Anna. Can you, perhaps, explain it to me?” I felt a little dumbfounded. Were all monsters this accepting of unexpected magic abilities?

            “She’s a little preoccupied at the moment, bro. You’re the third person she’s ever told.” Papyrus jerked his head back in surprise, his cheekbones turning a soft blood orange… huh.

            “W-Well, naturally, you had to inform the Great and Terrible Papyrus of your abilities! Perhaps, after I learn more about it, I will even offer to train you to become better! For my level of perfection may be unattainable for a mere human, it is certainly more than enough to improve your own skill by leaps and bounds!” Now… now I’m just flabbergasted. Sans snickered a little, his arm reaching around my shoulder to pull me closer.

            “Well, while she’s soaking in the grand opportunity you’ve presented, I’ll explain what I know about her magic.” He snagged the crane midflight with a single hand and started explaining, “You see, while technically, each object gains a life of its own, they’re very limited in intelligence…”

            Tuning out the unnecessary explanation (for myself at least), I reached forward and started making more complex paper figures. Foxes, dinosaurs, and owls now roamed the table several minutes later.

            “…And that’s about all I know.” Sans finished off as an owl dive bombed a mouse, which squeaked in terror.

            “I see! Anna, could you, perhaps, answer some of my questions?” I looked up at Papyrus and nodded, “Yes, thank you for your openness. Does this magic ability only work with what you make yourself?” Papyrus asked, his attention being drawn to the lumbering paper T-Rex trying, and failing, to catch the fox.

            “No… it’s easier, sure, but it works on almost anything. Except electronic images. If it’s an illustration or three-dimensional real world object I can ‘give it life’ so to speak. Animals move like animals but if it’s something like… a tree, it’ll only move like what I know a tree moves like. Stuff like that.” Papyrus hummed, considering my answer carefully, as a paper cat batted away at the paper butterfly, both crafts roughly the same size.

            “It appears as though you are currently being limited only by yourself, Anna! I firmly believe, that with proper training, you will be able to do ANYTHING!” Papyrus cut himself off and grimaced at Sans in apology, “My apologies Sans.” Papyrus looked over at me and continued, “My brother has… sensitive hearing. Yelling does not sit well with him.” I nodded my head in understanding.

            “Well, I’m not one much for shouting so…” I shrugged awkwardly but Papyrus just nodded.

            “It is for the best! Now, enough about that, I believe the sleep over tradition is to watch a scary movie and stay up as late as possible! Prepare, Anna, to be treated to the most terrifying movie we have! The Babadook!” Papyrus got up and put in said movie before turning around shiftily as though he was revealing a grand secret, “It is a metaphor for a mental illness! Depression! Decoding the secret message of cinematic films is a simple feat for one as Great and Terrible as I, Papyrus!” I snorted a little bit but looked anxiously at Sans, who seemed only _slightly_ apologetic.

            Silently and without a word, Sans wrapped his arm around my waist and held my hand left hand, Papyrus reclining against the arm rest of the couch on Sans right. I was a little uncertain about watching a scary movie with Papyrus in the room. Watching one with Sans was different, somehow. Likely due to how long we’d hung out beforehand. But I haven’t been around Papyrus as near as long. Then I felt a familiar warmth from Sans’ hand. It wasn’t as strong as the previous occasion, but it was more than enough to ease my worries.

            That’s not to say I didn’t shriek or jump a time or two… or six, particularly at the end there. Damn this movie was creepy. By the end credits I was almost in Sans’ lap, actually. I was too tired to make it through another movie, so, reluctantly, I turned towards the two.

            “Sorry, Papyrus, Sans. I’m not very good at this staying up all night thing. Is it alright if I borrow your shower and turn in for the night?” Papyrus jerked his head slightly, as though he almost nodded off himself.

            “That is perfectly fine, Anna. We will just have to train you to resist at a later date! Go on ahead, it is the second door on the right down that hallway there.” I nodded and, with a deep yawn, grabbed my bag and headed to the bathroom. With any luck I wouldn’t pass out in the shower and crack my head or something.

\--I wonder if Papyrus noticed? (Hint: he totally did).—

            With an only partially feigned yawn, Sans moved to get off the couch but was stopped by a very firm hand on his shoulder. Jerking, he looked back at Papyrus and grinned nervously.

            “Oh, hey bro! I was about to make my bed, forgot about it in all the excitement and—“

            “You _really_ like her, don’t you, Sans?” He didn’t even get time to feign ignorance, “I noticed that little trick you pulled over there! Does she even know what it means, Sans?” He couldn’t even look his brother in the eyes. Papyrus let out a gusty sigh, “On the subject of your object of affection, were you aware she could use magic beforehand?” This time he did look at Papyrus.

            “No, actually. She told me this morning after she asked if I would go to her graduation and some of the fucking birds began to fly. Tried to pass it off as my imagination at first. She seemed really nervous about me finding out.” Papyrus didn’t even need that part explained.

            “Understandable, considering the initial reaction to monsters. I insist on training her to control her powers more. Perhaps I will even teach her how to _not_ bring objects and illustrations to life by accident… I’m afraid that her power does not have many… _offensive_ capabilities. Unless she carries around statues, her power will likely not give her much of an advantage beyond distraction. But! I will still train her to the best of my ability in both her powers and dodging. If she continues associating with us, she will likely find herself in… _unpleasant situations_. No Sans, you cannot avoid such circumstances forever. One day, she _will_ find danger. My goal is to ensure she can last long enough for _help_. If she cannot take them down herself.” Sans huffed, aware that his brother was right.

            The good news was that Papyrus, as much of a hard-ass as he could be, was also very good at determining the capabilities of his opponents. What they could take, their weaknesses, and the like. Unfortunately for Sans, that meant that despite _believing_ that he couldn’t take much, actually ended up handling a lot more than he thought possible during his own training. So, he would likely push Anna, but not any further than she could safely take. Especially since he aimed to teach her _defense_ as opposed to _offense_.

            “Fine. You win.” Papyrus practically _preened_.

            “Of course I do. It is only part of what makes me so Great… another part will be enlightening Anna to you affections.” Everything in him froze at that.

            “D O N ‘ T  E V E N  T H I N K  A B O U T  I T,  B R O.” Papyrus only laughed evilly as the bathroom door opened to reveal Anna, once more both flushed red and with damp hair. Though, this time she also looked dead on her feet too. Ignoring the laughing Papyrus, Sans stood up, hands already warmed up to dry her hair. She blinked blearily and Sans had to fight back the urge to blush as she just quietly wrapped her arms around his chest. Almost exactly the same as that very morning, Sans dried then neatly groomed her hair.

            “Tired… where’s your room?” the husky voice did not go to the center of his being. Of course it didn’t. Why would it? It wasn’t like it was sexy and suggestive as hell. Or maybe that was his own dirty mind playing tricks on him?

            “Come on, I’ll show you. Night Papyrus!” he heard one last guffaw as he lead Anna into his room.

            “Don’t have too much _fun_ brother! Nyehehehe!” he could see it clearly now. His brother had every intention of being as asshole about his feelings for Anna.

            But it was really nice to gently tuck Anna into his bed. She wasn’t totally out of it, her hand fisted in the fabric of his shirt so he couldn’t escape to the living room. So, with great _reluctance_ (sure, let’s call it that), he slid into bed beside her and fell asleep. His ribs tingling with warmth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which I add a very vital part of a healthy sibling relationship. Where your sibling does their level best to make your life miserable but oddly improved. don't be surprised if he randomly tries to 'subtly' enlighten Anna for a good long while. And because part of Anna is based off myself, it will likely take literally spelling it out to get her to realize that Sans has romantic intentions. No joke. Dude had to literally tell me he was "romantically persueing" me for me to actually get it. Like, I was suspicious before, because, I mean, it was cold, but not quite cold enough to completely excuse sitting really close to me. Anyway, considering how completely isolated Anna made herself, it probably wouldn't occur to her at all until she's specifically told.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, particularly the random bits of pseudo-paper-life going on!


	11. In Which a Question is Posed That We Already Know the Answer To. Papyrus is Not Subtle.

            Growing up, I wasn’t the most outgoing kid. Brian was the one with a plethora of birthday parties, ball games, and play dates. I was content to stay at home and enjoy the quiet. So, naturally, I had never gotten to experience a sleep over before. Yesterday was different, more accidental. But last night was entirely on purpose, and I had to admit it. It was nice being physically close to someone. Even if that someone was a skeleton, which sounds incredibly sketchy when I put it like that. But no, Sans was great to sleep next to.

            He held me close to his chest, a soft thrumming noise originating from within his rib cage. Now that I knew it was a strange magical skin, I wasn’t distracted about what exactly I was embracing. I could just enjoy the warmth of the moment. Distantly, I could hear clattering in the kitchen. Probably Papyrus. Was he making breakfast? I carefully started to extract myself from Sans’ grip, freezing every time he made a growling noise of discontent. I almost made it out of his grip when he suddenly lashed out, his hands gripping the back of my shirt and dragging me back. Someone was a cuddle bug. He threw a leg over my hips and tucked my face under his chin, for good measure I’m assuming.

            Sighing, I brought my arms around his back and gently rubbed the back of his ribs and vertebrae. I wasn’t exactly shocked, but it was surprising when he started to relax, his grip no longer firm in the fabric of my shirt. Weakly, his arms relaxed around me, one hand resting on the bare skin of my back because of how my shirt had rose up in sleep. His fingers seemed to twitch, likely registering the odd feeling of skin before gently rubbing into the surface of my lower back. It felt nice, but I still wanted to get up.

            Pressing down a little harder, pausing when he let out what sounded like a moan, I rubbed his back until he was almost totally limp. Smoothly, I grabbed the pillow under my head and dragged it between us before scuttling off the bed, watching in satisfaction as he instantly clamped down on the pillow. Though his expression less satisfied than before. Feeling bad, I stumbled my way to the other side of the bed and rubbed his back as I tugged the comforter to his shoulders. He looked so cute and grumpy, my heart feeling oddly heavy with emotion.

            Turning away, I started to tip toe my way to the door in almost total darkness. Sans apparently didn’t believe in LED clocks or nightlights… or anything that can provide light beyond the small sliver of light from under what I assume to be his door. The only thing I could tell about his room was that it was carpeted, which my bare feet really appreciated. I was almost to his door when, suddenly, I froze. A gentle red haze covered my skin as my feet were lifted from the ground and I was pulled back to the bed by a disorienting force of magic that kind of felt like gravity. When the back of my knees hit the bed the magic stopped and I flailed to regain my balance, falling onto the mattress for all of my wasted efforts.

            Before I could regain my sense of balance there was a shifting of fabric and I was pulled back under the blankets. This time, I wasn’t likely to escape my chance. My back was pressed to his chest, his skull nuzzled into my hair, and one of his legs between mine. He chuckled as his arms latched around my waist, trapping my arms as one of his thumbs gently rubbed over my pelvic bone.

            “It’s six in the morning sweetheart, go back to sleep.”

            “What?! But! Papyrus!”

            “He’s always been an early riser. Nice try with the pillow though.” I huffed, throwing out a token struggle, much to Sans amusement. I felt a nip on the back of my neck and yelped a little louder than I’d like. The clattering from the kitchen paused before resuming.

            “Sans!” He just chuckled a little more, a hand patting my waist.

            “Lucky I don’t do worse, sweetheart. That was a dirty trick, fondling my spine like that.” I tried to turn around, be he wasn’t having it.

            “What? It didn’t seem like a ticklish place…” the sigh Sans gave sounded like he was struggling under the greatest burden the world had ever invented. His hands twitched as though he wanted to do something but thought better of it.

            “Really sensitive place on anyone, sweetheart. Particularly when you’re nothing but bones… just, don’t do it again, kay?” he nuzzled into my neck and sighed again, “Go to sleep, Anna.”

            “…Alright. Night, Sans.”

            “G’night.” I closed my eyes and savored the odd warmth I felt at how Sans said my name. I felt…. Very…..lo—

\--So close to being self-aware, but so far~!—

            When Sans woke up a few hours later, he savored the soft warmth of the human in his arms. Then he remembered that it was Anna… then he recalled what he did when she tried to leave at six in the morning. His whole body felt hot with embarrassment, and maybe something else, as his phalanges twitched into the soft skin of her stomach. He damn near lost it at that, lost what exactly, he wasn’t certain, but he managed to restrain himself in time.

            He could feel his sins crawling down his spine as he remembered the feeling of her hands on his back with only fabric separating the two. He wasn’t lying when he said it was a sensitive area in any creature. He just didn’t mention how _insanely sensitive it was for a skeleton monster_. Especially when he wasn’t used to any contact in that area outside of… heated moments. It was occasions like these that he was glad he wasn’t a human with problematic organs…

            But, that aside, it was really nice. Waking up with her in his arms had to be on his top ten list. Right up there with the moment she grabbed his hand and that instance where the world seemed to slow down as she smiled so _beautifully_ at him. His ribs seemed to constrict and fill with warmth all at once. Then, a thought occurred to him.

            Some time ago, he really dodged a bullet when he asked if she had a special someone in her life. At the time, the worst answer she could have given was having a girlfriend, since it meant that he didn’t even have a chance as a _gender_ specific candidate. But, her answer was that she didn’t have anyone, so he had a strong chance. The problem that was only just now occurring to him was that he didn’t actually _know her preference_. He had never asked and she had never told. There was a chance that he was completely fucked anyway because she was completely and totally asexual and happy to be single. It would explain why she didn’t care about sleeping in his bed or how he was always touching her. Paired with her rather secluded lifestyle, there was a possibility that it had never been a problem for her. She just didn’t care.

            Great, now that’s going to haunt him for the rest of eternity. But it did bring up a very good question. What would he do if she wasn’t interested? In him and/or anyone else? As frustrating as it was, he could learn to live with just being a close friend. He could live with being her Squish (that’s what it was, wasn’t it? His circles usually didn’t have asexual people, so he wasn’t sure). That didn’t mean that any Tom, Dick, or Harry could just come along and try. Hell no, they had to earn the right to get close to her. One wrong move and they would be G O N E.

            But he was getting _way_ ahead of himself here. One step at a time. He took in a deep breath and centered himself. It wasn’t over yet. He just needed to calm down and—

            “Sans! Anna! Awaken!” he nearly jumped out of bed at the sound of his brother’s voice bellowing from outside his door. Anna snuffled in complaint and turned around to borrow into his chest. With a great sigh he sat up with his arms around her.

            “Come on, sweetheart. It’s time to wake up.”

            “Noooo…” he rocked the two of them a little bit and tried again.

            “Come on, it’s time to get up.”

            “Wrong number.” He started laughing.

            “Y-You can’t just repeat what I said yesterday! Get up, come on.” He scooted off the bed and stood up with Anna in his arms, completely limp except for her legs, which latched around him for leverage. Amused but very much frustrated with his position, or rather, his inability to act completely free with his current position, he did the only thing he could. The tip of his fingers danced across her sides, startling a peal of laughter from her, arms suddenly latched around his neck as her legs dangled onto the floor. As soon as her feet were stable she let go of his neck and jumped away from him.

            “Sans! You can’t just tickle someone awake! It’s _rude_!” Sans could practically feel the gleam in his eyes as he raised his hands threateningly and grinned.

            “Then you might want to run, sweetheart. Before I do something _downright uncivil_.” He even threw in ominous laughter for good measure and was rewarded with the most playfully shocked expression he had ever seen. She quickly ran to the door and dashed out into the kitchen.

            “Anna! I see you’re still in one piece. My brother often claims he has great skills in bed… did you sleep well?” fucking hell, that. was. NOT SUBTLE PAPYRUS! He quickly dashed into the kitchen to see his brother’s smug expression, only slightly faltering under the pure _innocence_ of Anna’s smile.

            “He’s a cuddle bug!” oh. Huh. He didn’t expect betrayal from _both sides_. Papyrus looked entirely too pleased with this new information.

            “Oh, is he? How strange. He usually can’t stand to have people close to him as he sleeps. I wonder if there’s a reas—“

            “Hey, bro! Papyrus! Bro. Papyrus. What’s up?” Sans interjected nervously, receiving only a bemused expression from Anna and _pure fucking evil from his own flesh and blood_ … metaphorically speaking, of course.

            “Nothing brother, I was just about to ask Anna about her romantic interests. Say, is there a significant other we, or perhaps Sans, should meet?” Well, he can’t blame his brother completely for trying. Even if he did already know the answer to that.

            “No. The only people that are close to me is Vicky, Sans, and now you Papyrus!” Anna looked down at a bowl of batter or some shit and smiled, “It’s nice to have friends again. Like, as in plural. It’s also really cool to have a sleep over! I’ve never done that before…” in that moment, he knew exactly what was going through Papyrus’ head.

            One of the top edicts of the Royal Guardsmen was to protect those who could not protect themselves. By either teaching them to protect themselves, or if that wasn’t an option, ensuring they had a secure circle of monsters that could do it for them. He was already going to train Anna, but only now did he realize that there as a whole other problem with protecting her. Not every danger came in the form of a battle or weapon. If Anna didn’t have many friends and didn’t get out much, then he’d need to squeeze in a few lessons on stranger danger and the like.

            That, and, judging by the blood orange blush on his cheekbones, he was thinking about how incredibly sweet his new human friend was. Not to mention isolated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a bit late (by like a few hours), I just got really side tracked by Red Versus Blue. Every episode is like, an hour, and so much shit happens. Like, literally, so much. It's ridiculous. In this chapter, it occurred to me that Sans actually wasn't sure what Anna's orientation was, and because he has had relations with humans from bars and shit, he's probably ran into one or two different orientations. So, he knows it's a thing. So, as a bit of suspense for him, it'll be a bit before he can work his way around to asking. I also put in another "he's rough around the edges and kind of an ass, but not a total douche nozzle". He'll be the really possessive Squish if he has to be, but we all know what he'd prefer in terms of a relationship. Anyway, I need to get to bed, jesus. So, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! If you have any comments, questions, or recommendations, please do leave a comment! I tend to get really motivated by your comments. (and my ego explodes a bit because I have yet to receive negative feedback on anything... is it because i'm that good or you guys are just that sweet? The world may never know~)


	12. On the Hunt (Or, What Would Sans do without Papyrus?)

            He wasn’t entirely sure how it came to this. After finishing breakfast, which turned out to be pancakes, he was somehow roped into… well, this.

            “My brother’s face makes the perfect target! Be sure to look carefully and sent your paper craft creatures flying in such a way that it will hit him!” yeah. Target practice. His only job was to stand still and lean out of the way without leaving his spot if possible. As it turns out, there’s a difference between giving life to paper birds and shit, and giving them targets. But it was fine, for the most part. He just wished Anna didn’t take Papyrus so seriously about looking at his face. He almost got hit by a fucking butterfly he was so distracted by her intense stare. Twice.

            Oh, he knew what is brother was doing, all right. Not only is she learning how to control her abilities but she’s also observing his features with an intensity she usually didn’t use because it would be rude, or some shit like that, he was sure. It was a three way battle between not attacking his brother, not getting hit with paper shit, and absolutely not turning beet red. It was a little fun to try and turn it around my making faces at her. He considered it a success if she had to stop to catch her breath from laughing so hard.

            “S-Sans! Stop doing that, this is hard enough as it is!” her face was about the same color as an apple now. Papyrus looked like he was resigned that his personal crusade to enlighten Anna would take significantly longer than he previously thought.

            “Alright, I believe that is enough! You have school tomorrow, do you not, Anna? I believe now is a good time to head home. Practice what I told you! It is your magic, control it! Sans, allow me to walk her back so I can learn the location of her home!” Sans’ grin faltered a little but he nodded.

            “Sure, bro. But hey, first, can I talk to you about something? Sweetheart, go on ahead and get your stuff. It’ll just be a minute.” She nodded and went to the bathroom. Papyrus looked over at him.

            “What is it, Sans?”

            “I… uh, there might be a problem with my approach… to Anna, that is.” Sans could feel the beads of sweat forming on his skull, “See, I never really asked… that is to say, I don’t actually know… if she’s um… well, I don’t know her orientation. You know, heterosexual. Bisexual. Homosexual. Asexual. That kind of thing…” Papyrus gave him a long look.

            “…Sans… you’ve been pursuing Anna for about two weeks now, and it never occurred to you that you should ask?” Sans huffed.

            “I asked if she was single a while back, I was just so relieved that she was… it just, never occurred to me that she might be single for any reason besides how isolated she is. Which is kind of weird, you know, for living in a city and going to college. I mean, you’d think it would require quite a bit of work to isolate yourself so much…” Sans shook his head. Papyrus let out a great sigh.

            “Very well, I will ask for you. You ridiculous lay-about.” Papyrus said as though he was being asked to do the most troublesome thing imaginable. But… that look in his eyes, Sans didn’t like it. At all.

            “Wait, never mind! I’ll do it myself!”

            “Do what?” never, not even on his dying day, will he admit to screeching like a baby bones when Anna suddenly spoke up from behind him.

            “NOT-Nothing. Uhm. Nothing. Don’t… don’t worry ‘bout it, sweetheart. Just uh… don’t forget to trade numbers with Papyrus in case you need to reach me but… uhm, you can’t. Or to talk. Whatever.” He was glad she was so blissfully unaware at that moment when she just giggled and accepted his lame attempt to save his own ass.

            “Alright, say your good byes and let’s get moving. I am _not_ a taxi service.” Anna quickly embraced him and was out the door with Papyrus before he could even enjoy it. Damn.

            “Bye Sans! See ya later!”

            “Bye sweetheart.” And just like that, he was alone. A paper butterfly landed gently on his skull, like some pansy head piece. Okay, so he wasn’t totally alone. He also had the company of semi-autonomous paper crafts. He looked at the different creatures Anna made, his eyes darting around when he heard a squeak but was unable to find the paper mouse. Every time he thought he knew where the squeaking was coming from, it seemed to be in an entirely different part of the apartment.

            “Squeak! Squeak!” Enraged, he lifted up part of the couch.

            “WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU, YOU LITTLE SHIT?!”

\--Above his head a brown plaid mouse squeaked from the clutches of an owl that refused to land.—

            Walking with Papyrus was an experience. The tall skeleton put on what I could only assume to be his ‘terrify the infidels’ outfit. If I didn’t know any better, I’d assume he was a very big fan of Ghost Rider. Spike studded leather jacket, black shirt, dark wash jeans, and boots. All he needed was to burst into flames.

            Though he also reminded me strongly of a black knight, partially because he insisted on having my arm looped through his like he was escorting me into prom or something. I also noticed the severe lack of people trying to talk with us, or even look really. Must be genetic.

            “Anna, I heard something rather curious the other day and would like for you to clarify.” I looked up, a bit of a workout since I barely hit his armpit.

            “What is it, Papyrus?”

            “Well, I do not know if you have noticed, but other humans tend to… avoid my brother and I. So, I usually only get to hear bits of other peoples’ conversations! The other night, I was working as a bouncer outside this club, when this human was thrown out. He yelled obscenities and proclaimed innocence to the clubs status as a ‘gay club’… why would that be a problem?” huh… a rather odd question. You’d think after so long on the surface he’d at least have picked up what the guy meant.

            “Oh, uhm, do you mean to ask what ‘gay’ means or why the guy would have a problem going to a gay club?”

            “I know what it means, Anna. What I do not know, is why the human would have a problem going there.” … Okay then.

            “Well, he was probably straight himself, and since people usually go to clubs to hook up or just dance, he wouldn’t find a straight lady in a gay club. At least, it’s very unlikely that he would. Maybe a bisexual lady, but not totally straight.”

            “Oh!” Papyrus nodded in understanding before looking down in curiosity, “What about you, Anna? Would you have a problem going to a gay club?” This was a little weird, but maybe… this was…normal? Conversation?

            “Uh, I don’t really like loud places. Or crowded places, but I doubt that’s what you meant. I’m straight myself and I never bothered to look into it beyond that. Never had a reason to… but I’ve never had the urge to go out and ‘hook up’ with a stranger so… I don’t know. There’s a lot of different orientations. It’s really complicated, but why worry about it when I have great friends like you and Sans?” I felt my cheeks heat up as we entered the street my apartment was on, “I’m just really happy, and I haven’t been that in a very long time. Baby steps, you know? Oh. We’re here. Would you like to walk me to my door or is this fine?” Papyrus smiled softly and patted my arm.

            “I will walk you to your domicile. It _is_ the proper thing to do, after all.” we walked up to my familiar door and stopped, “Here is my number, Anna. Feel free to call me for anything. To talk or if Sans is being a handful. Whatever. Have a good day, Anna. It was a pleasure to have you over.” I snickered a little and took the piece of paper in hand before embracing him.

            “It was _my_ pleasure to _be_ over. I’ll shoot you a text after I put my stuff away, alright? Have a wonderful day, Papyrus!” he huffed and ruffled my hair before leaving. I set my stuff down besides the couch and locked the door behind me. As I entered in Papyrus’ number, I couldn’t help but feel that my apartment was too quiet all of a sudden.

\--Meanwhile…--

            “SANS?! W-What the hell have you been doing, brother?!” Papyrus exclaimed as he took in the total mess the apartment was in. Furniture tipped over, clothing strewn about, and an almost feral Sans in the middle of it all.

            “Squeak! Squeak!” Papyrus was almost shocked at how fast Sans spun around and stalked toward an empty space of wall.

            “S-Sorry, bro! A paper mouse seems to have gotten into the wall. Don’t worry though, I’ll T A K E  C A R E  O F  I T…” Papyrus’ attention slid up about four feet above Sans’ head where a small yellow owl carried a brown plaid mouse. Both made out of paper. Papyrus sighed heavily.

            “Sans… it’s not in the wall.” Sans looked at him un utter confusion.

            “Wh-What? What are you talking about? Can’t you hear it squeaking?!”

            “Squeak! Squeak!” another great sigh was heaved from his empty rib cage.

            “Sans… look up.” white lights rolled upwards and froze.

            “Oh…”

            “Yeah… ‘Oh’.” Papyrus shook his head. Honestly, what would Sans do without such a Great and Terrible (in a good way) brother like himself? He shuddered at the very thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may be having too much fun with this semi-useless ability to bring life to creations. At the moment, the paper crafts and shit act, more or less, exactly as their real life counterparts would. Maybe Anna will be able to give them orders one day, who knows? But at the moment, we can all just enjoy the pseudo-life playing out. I may have a chapter or two about Anna training with Papyrus before the next plot point kicks in. I don't know. I was kind of hoping one of you guys would have requested some sort of fluff shit to help pad this out a little more.
> 
> Seriously. Just ask away. Or these little shits will be baking in the next chapter with paper craft shenanigans in the background. Oh, and my tag list feels... lacking. Is there anything I should put up there? Like, do you guys think that i'm missing something that might help draw in more peeps or at least warn them? Cause I almost feel like I should add at least three more fluff related tags at this point. I almost feel like i'm just writing sheep children rolling about in cotton candy, hence the reason why plot will kick in a bit real soon if I can't think of any more character building fluff bits.
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter (Like every other one so far apparently)!


	13. Paper Fire and Chocolate Overload

            My day was largely uneventful. I received a hearty good morning, via text from Papyrus, and went to class. It was on the way home that I had problems. Sans didn’t walk me to class and back because the neighborhood the school campus was located in wasn’t quite so shady and it was very well populated. I never had any problems commuting between school and home, until today, that is.

            “Hey, sweetie, you’re friends with the skeletons, right?” I paused and turned towards the slightly sketchy man. He looked like his shower broke a week ago and all his clothes were washed in a creek.

            “Uh… yeah?” brown eyes squinted a little as he nodded to himself, like he was confirming something in his head.

            “Oh, cool. Great. Uh, look, I kind of need a favor. C-Can… uh, can you tell Sans t-t-t-t-that I can’t make my payment this week? I-I-I got kids, man, and they’ve got a birthday coming up and-“ I felt a familiar arm sling across my shoulders, but it wasn’t Sans. This arm felt… softer.

            “Hey, buddy, go tell your sob story elsewhere, ‘kay?” oh. It was Vicky. I turned and smiled.

            “Hey, Vicky! Oh, and Judy too! What are you guys doing in this neighborhood?” Vicky winked at me as the guy ran off. Vicky’s arm squeezed gently before dropping.

            “Oh, I just felt like we’d be needed. How have you been, Anna?” Judy asked in a low drawl. She was a very beautiful lady. Her hair was golden and curled just slightly at the ends. Unlike Vicky’s gothic style, Judy preferred a bohemian vibe. Long skirts made of a mish-mash of cloth and draped fabric, she looked like a gypsy. Judy’s eyes were even a sea foam green color.

            “I’ve been great! Has Vicky told you about my new friend, Sans?” Judy nodded, “Well, he has a brother too, and he’s really great! A little intimidating, but Papyrus has a great heart. Well, metaphorically speaking. They’re both skeletons, after all.” Judy just nodded sagely.

            “I told you that the Ace of Spade would become closer to you.” I paused a moment. Ace of Spade. Death. Grim reaper. Oh. I snorted a little bit and nodded.

            “That you did.”

            “We should get together some time. Hang out.” Vicky said slyly.

            “Oh, a sleep over?” Vicky chuckled and nodded.

            “Sure thing, pixie. I think we should properly meet your new beaus.” I shook my head.

            “Friends, Vicky. They’re my friends. No courtship going on here.” For some reason, the chiding response got a pretty good laugh out of both of them. Judy ruffled my hair gently.

            “I also wanted to tell you that every creation that we make has a little piece of ourselves within it.” Judy said with a secretive smile.

            “Alright… uh, I’ll see when they’re free and we’ll have a sleep over. Wait, I don’t have enough room, and neither do they… maybe we should just do a movie night?”

            “That’s alright, we can just have a girl’s night. We’ll watch movies and sleep over. Maybe do something crazy with our hair, who knows?” something crazy with our hair? Like what?

            “Alrighty then, I’m going to head home now. See you guys later!” I gave Judy and Vicky a quick hug before continuing on my way home. This time, I walked a little faster.

            It was kind of easy to forget that Sans’ job probably wasn’t very legal and was really sketchy. How many people owe him money anyway?

\--Speaking of the Skelle-roll.—

            After fixing up the apartment from the havoc he may or may not have wrecked trying to find the paper mouse, Papyrus told him what he found out from Anna. It was quite a relief to know he wasn’t totally hopeless. On the downside, the mouse seems oddly attracted to him. It follows him everywhere in the apartment and just last night, while he was sleeping, it skittered into his skull. When Papyrus entered to room (why would he? Oh, well… it certainly wasn’t because he screamed bloody murder or anything) he couldn’t stop laughing at Sans. It was hell. But it did eventually crawl out. From them on, every paper craft Anna made was kept in a sealed container. He’d ask her to… turn them off or whatever tomorrow.

            The next day was a little busy. He’d been so focused on Anna that the ‘customers’ seemed to have forgotten about why they shouldn’t skip out on their payments. So, until he knew she’d be back at her apartment, he made the rounds and put the fear of… well, himself, in them again. The last thing he needed was for some asshole to get any ideas about him going soft. Looking at his phone he figured it was the proper time by now for her to be back.

**[hey, bbe. U hm?]**

            After a few seconds he got a reply. Some small part of him wondered if his way of texting bothered her or not.

**[Yeah, you won’t believe what I’ve done today!]**

            Well, that sounded ominous. A short blip later and he was in front of her door. His knuckles barely had time to scrap across the wood when she opened the door. She smiled up at him.

            “Hey, Sans! Come on, look! Look!” she was so excited when she grabbed his hand and pulled him into her apartment. Part of him wondered what she did. The he glanced away from her face to see the rather simple green dragon. It kind of looked like she experimented with the base of a paper crane. He was about to compliment her when the tiny mouth (mouth?!) opened and a stream of red and orange paper spewed from its mouth in a mock formation of fire. He couldn’t help the startled laugh.

            “Hah! That’s really cool, sweetheart! Papyrus will be proud when you show him! How did you do that?” She blushed a bit and looked a little embarrassed.

            “Well, I didn’t actually… uhm, do that. I mean, I made it, yeah, but then I turned around to do something and when I turned back around, it had started eating—somehow, I’m not sure, I didn’t make a mouth—orange and red paper. It’s a little concerning… I mean, I have such little control of this and I’ve had it for so long…” Sans pulled her into his arms and started running his hand through her hair soothingly. Yeah, it was a little concerning that her creations were so… autonomous. He could understand her worry.

            “Hey, it’s alright. Until recently, you haven’t had a reason to stretch your abilities. You’re still learning, sweetheart. You won’t believe the kind of shenanigans Papyrus and I got up to when we were still learning. All you need is time and Determination, sweetheart. Papyrus and I will be with you every step of the way. Come on, why don’t you take a break and we can do something. I don’t know what. Baking?” She smiled and nodded.

            “Sure, I have a great recipe for a really nice chocolate overload.”

            “Chocolate overload?”

            “Well, do you like chocolate?”

            “Yeah. It’s pretty okay.”

            “Well then, you’ll feel a lot of okay about this.” She paused in the kitchen, “Oh, you won’t guess who I ran into today!” She said as she went through her cabinets and removed what he could only assume to be every chocolate related item in her kitchen.

            “Who?”

            “Well, the first guy I wasn’t familiar with, but he seemed to know you. He wanted me to tell you that he wouldn’t be able to make a payment this week. Looked really… uhm… He looked like his shower broke some time ago. Brown eyes. Raggedy clothes.”

            _Oh, sure you’ll be able to pay this week buddy. Interest. Broken bone interest._

            “I didn’t catch his name before Vicky and Judy showed up, he ran off after that. Break these eggs for me, will you? Thanks. Anyway, they wanted to do a movie night with you and Papyrus sometime soon! Oh, and they wanted to have a girl’s night, but you won’t be there. Naturally… you know, since you’re a guy.” _At least she’s aware I’m male._ His phalanges carefully cracked the eggs provided into a bowl of flour with chocolate chips from the freezer. It was kind of fascinating watching her pull random shit together for food. At least, he assumed it was random shit. He took the bowl from her and started mixing so she could set the oven. After pouring the batter into the proper cake pans they set it in the oven. She took a little kitchen timer and set it. His eyes were fixated on a small dab of chocolate batter on her cheek.

            “Okay, so what do we do now?” she looked at the dishes left behind. The paper dragon and a whole flock of paper cranes peered curiously at the now mostly empty batter bowl.

            “It’s a proud tradition to lick clean the batter bowl, so why don’t we start with that?” Sans gave her a look.

            “Uh… don’t you have to worry about Salmonella from that?” Anna threw back her head and laughed heartily.

            “Hahahaha! I greet this challenge to my immune system with a laugh, foolish skeleton!” He grinned and licked her cheek, entirely too pleased at the shocked look on her face.

            “Challenge accepted.” Sneakily glancing at her, Sans purposefully kept eye contact as he brought out his tongue, made specially of his magic, and licked the entirety of the bowl clean with one single swipe. He couldn’t help but laugh at the utterly betrayed expression on her face. Then the heaviest amount of chocolate he had ever experienced was broken down by his magic and suddenly **_chocolate. Fucking chocolate everywhere_**. His expression must have been beautiful judging by the absolutely delighted laugh Anna let loose until she was red in the face. If he could throw up, he would have. But unless there was a problem with his magic, he was unable to toss up what he just digested.

            “Hehaha! Y-Your f-f-face! Oh my god!” it was kind of worth it, he guessed. Though he could have done without the flock of fucking birds that decided his head was the perfect resting place. The dragon blew paper fire at the side of his head, right around where his ears would be if he was a human, and he jerked, sending the paper birds fluttering off in panic. Fucking hell. The shit he puts up with…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which I make good on my promise of baking and we get some paper shenanigans. As well as setting up some more fluff for later. Now, it's almost three in the morning in my neck of the woods, so i'm going to go to sleep. Oh, and Red Vs. Blue fucked my mind. Holy shit, season 7 man. God damn.
> 
> Anyway, you guys know what to do, and I hoped you enjoyed this chapter!


	14. A New Look and Sans Went Training

            Sans watched as Anna smoothed icing over the cake carefully. He could understand why it was chocolate overload now. The batter and icing were a thick chocolate and there were decent sized chocolate chips all throughout the batter. As for the topping, because this cake _clearly needed more chocolate_ , she carefully shaved away small flecks of chocolate to sprinkle all over it. By the time she was done, it looked _nice_ , but his taste buds were still being haunted by the sheer amount of goddamn chocolate the batter consisted of. _Chocolate Overload indeed._

            Carefully, she cut away what he considered a generous slice for the amount of fucking chocolate it contained, and took a bite. He gave her a moment to enjoy what was apparently very satisfactory cake, which had nothing to do with the fact that her moans made him wish he had a more active relationship at that moment, before broaching the topic of her ability.

            “Hey, sweetheart, do you think it would be possible to… well, turn off your creations back at my place? It was kind of cute, but then one of them tried to get an up close and personal look at the inside of my skull while I was sleeping.” He was glad that she didn’t choke from suddenly laughing so hard like that. Peals of laughter echoed in the apartment. After several moments she carefully pulled herself back together.

            “A-Alright… yeah, give—give me a moment. Hoo…hehehe.” She closed her eyes and visibly relaxed, “I… I think that did it. Not for sure, since I’ve never forgotten to… well, turn them off before.” He was about to reply when his phone beeped at him. Casually, he opened up the text message from his brother.

**[SANS! THEY STOPPED MOVING! DO YOU THINK, PERHAPS, THAT ANNA’S ABILITY HAS A TIME LIMIT?]**

            He snorted before looking at Anna and mouthing “Papyrus”.

**[nah, askd hr 2 trn thm off. ur wlcm]**

**[WELL, THANK YOU BROTHER, THEIR SKITTERING WAS DRIVING ME CRAZY. STILL, WE SHOULD LOOK INTO HOW LONG HER CREATIONS LIVE WITHOUT HER AROUND. AND LEARN HOW TO PROPERLY TEXT, SANS. I CAN BARELY READ YOUR TEXTS. AND I’M TAKING YOU TRAINING TOMORROW, SO NO ‘SLEEP OVERS’. TELL ANNA I SAID ‘HELLO’.]**

            He snorted again. Yeah, that wasn’t likely.

            “Papyrus says they stopped moving, and that he says ‘hello’. I won’t be available tomorrow though, he’s taking me… training.” San said nervously. Anna looked curious, “My brother isn’t known for his Mercy in training. You’ll be okay though! He’s not training you to fight, but to defend yourself. Totally different.” she didn’t look terribly relieved.

            “Well, I guess we’ll take the rest of this evening and just… relax.” She said, shoveling down another slice of cake, “And I’ll wrap up a few pieces of this for you to take home. I’m sure Papyrus will appreciate my baking.” She said with a fake little sniff. Damnit, even though he knew she was kidding, he couldn’t just not eat it now. Maybe if he had mustard or milk to drown it out a bit…

            They spent the next few hours cuddling on the couch while different (not scary) movies played. He noticed how a few of her paper creature shit slowly migrated towards him. If he wasn’t so nervous at their proximity, he would have wondered why it was only the red colored variants that wanted to get close to him. He soaked in the peace and really good, if insanely chocolate flavored, cake. Tomorrow was going to suck like a bitch.

\--When the Sans is away the Vicky comes out to play!—

            The next day was a little bit depressing, since I wouldn’t get to see Sans, but Vicky and Judy were coming over, so I at least had something to look forward to. Walking to work was a bit nerve wracking, because of how used to feeling safe I had gotten, but nothing happened, thankfully. And on the walk back Vicky and Judy were with me, which was great.

            “So, what were the bone-bros doing today, pixie?” Vicky asked as Judy shook her head indulgingly.

            “They actually left to do some sort of training. I’m assuming that Sans will be exhausted tomorrow. And I’m not sure that isn’t a rude thing to say, Vicky.”

            “Don’t worry. I doubt they would mind if they knew.” Judy said, “But I’m really looking forward to tonight. We even brought hair dye. Several boxes, in fact. Want to give it a try? I’m told I have a deft hand at hair styling.” I looked over at Judy, considering it. I had never had anything done to my hair besides getting it cut. But Vicky had all sorts of hair colors in the time I’ve known her, and if it was Judy’s handy work, then it probably wouldn’t turn out too bad.”

            “Sure. What colors do you have?”

            “Well, we have blue, purple, green, pastel mixes, and red. White is pretty popular right now, but unless you want to fry your hair, Anna, I wouldn’t recommend getting it in one night.” I nodded my head and considered my options as we reached my apartment building.

            “Oh, I made Chocolate Overload yesterday, so we can eat that as well.” Judy’s eyes lit up. She absolutely loved chocolate.

            “It’s official. Anna.” She took my hand and looked deep into my eyes with an incredible amount of seriousness, “I will absolutely do wonders for your hair. I’ll even cut it. Whatever style, whatever color. As long as I get a slice of that cake, I don’t care if it takes _weeks_ to get the proper hair color.” Vicky laughed in the background.

            “Hey now, no stealing my girlfriend, pixie! Oh! You should totally do fire, Judy! Make it look like her hair is on fire!” We both laughed until we caught Judy’s very determined expression.

            “I’ll do it.” Judy said as I opened my door.

            “What?”

            “Make your hair look like fire. I will totally do that. What kind of fire? Classic? Salt wood fire? Supernatural? Name it and give me a slice of that cake, and I will do it.” It was almost scary to see how serious she was about that cake.

            “Well… if you insist. Let me just put in a movie and get that slice of cake. We’ll go over colors after that, sound alright?” Judy nodded enthusiastically.

            “Oh! Can we watch Wall-E?!” I gave Vicky a look.

            “What? Were you expecting something else? That movie’s the shit!” fair enough. I selected the movie as Judy dumped out the boxes of hair dye before going into the kitchen to get everyone a slice of cake.

            Judy and Vicky quietly argued over what kind of hair cut she’d give my already short hair as they ate away at the cake and the charming story of Wall-E played in the background.

            “What if we just buzz cut the sides?”

            “No.” I said, preoccupied with the little robots plight to think much.

            “Uh… why not, it would look pretty bad ass.” Vicky complained quietly.

            “Sans does this thing where his hands heat up—magic you know?—and he kind of dries my hair after I get out of a shower because I never bother to dry it myself completely. It feel _really_ nice.” All my attention was on the screen. I loved this movie.

            “Uh-huh… and you like his hands on you like that?” Vicky asked softly.

            “Are we ignoring exactly why he was here after she showered or…?”

            “It feels amazing. Why wouldn’t I like it? And Sans slept over after watching a movie late the other night.”

            “So… you want to keep most of your length because then Sans would have to dry your hair for you?”

            “Well, not really have to. His decision and all. But yeah, basically. I don’t want it too long though, because, I mean, he is a skeleton. I don’t want my hair to get tangled in his joints.” I heard a choking sound but assumed it was because of the sudden electrocution Wall-E got from using an umbrella in the thunderstorm.

            “Oookay. Breathe, baby. Just breathe. I think I know what to do. Mostly just a trim, but I plan on giving you hella side bangs. And we settled on a good color, like it?” I glanced down and nodded. Yep. That works for me.

            The next few hours was a blur of thick smell of bleach, cute Disney movies, and laughter as we may or may not have gotten a bit of a high from dying all of our hair. Judy and Vicky had significantly less work to do since they were already pretty fucking blond. Damn that shit burns on my scalp, but I was certain the end result would be worth it.

            By the end of it, Vicky had dark purple streaks with bright blue mixed in and Judy had green with purple chunks all throughout her hair. Looking in the mirror at my new look, I couldn’t help but wonder if Sans would like it, which was kind of weird. Usually, I didn’t care…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suddenly, I want a haircut and to dye my hair. I wonder why?
> 
> And I can't help but mention how thrilled I am that everyone is throwing out these ideas for fluff and how much new people are enjoying my story and character portrayals! I particularly am happy that you guys like Underfell Papyrus! I tried a bit of a tsundere, black knight hybrid to make up his character.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter and hopefully i'll continue to please you guys with this story in the next chapter.


	15. Hair 'Do and Don't Be Creepy

            As it turns out, Papyrus got help for this training session, though how he managed to get ahold of Undyne, Sans wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Sans led Papyrus through a shortcut all the way back to Snowdin, which was incredibly abandoned and the perfect place for an all-out braw—training session. Great place for a _training session_. Undyne was waiting for him and greeted Sans and his brother with an eerily accurate spear throw.

            “Fwuh-hahahaha! Getting a little out of touch, _boneheads!_ ” the angry fish woman then proceeded to try and kill them, Papyrus occasionally taking aim for Sans skull, just to mix things up.

            Everything became a blur of neon blue spears tipped with red and his brother’s bones as Sans had to pull every trick from his bag to survive. Yeah, he didn’t doubt they would beat him within an inch of his HP. He even bought some time by setting loose his pack of Gaster Blasters, their blasts raking lines through the earth and stone, only to fill up with more snow. Did he ever mention how much he hated training? Just when he thought he couldn’t go any further, he received a small Mercy.

            “ALL RIGHT, THAT’S ENOUGH, UNDYNE!” Undyne froze immediately and her magic fizzled out, her chest heaving as she panted for breath, “I believe that’s good enough. I just needed to make sure Sans hasn’t started slipping.” Sans felt his knees give out. He couldn’t tell if his clothes were wet from the snow or his own sweat, but he wasn’t sure if he even cared at that point.

            “Fu-huh. I guess you boneheads _haven’t_ lost your touch just yet. How’s it going down there, Sans? I guess some things never change, still as lazy as ever.”

            “F-Fuck… you…” Undyne just laughed and hauled him up from the snow by his collar.

            “I believe our house is still serviceable. Let us go and recuperate there.”

            “You got it, Papyrus. Tell me how you’ve been, dude. Haven’t talked much since we all split.”

            “I have been quite well. We, and by ‘we’ I mean Sans, have made a very interesting friend recently. Very nice little human. I plan on training her… Sans, can we speak of her to Undyne or is it not allowed?”

            “Well, I’d rather have her permission for her hobby, but in general, it’s cool.” Sans said grumpily, easily seeing where this was going. Papyrus nodded as they reached their old porch and unlocked the door.

            “He’s in love.” Papyrus said simply, causing Undyne to drop him right on the carpet.

            “WHAT?!” Papyrus gave her a look and she quickly cleared her throat, “I mean, bro, tell me _all about this new crush of yours._ ”

            “More than a crush, he even used magical empathy with her… not that she knows exactly what it means, since he hasn’t even confessed.” It was official. He was an only child. He had no family in this world. **_None._ ** Undyne sputtered above him and Sans got back on his feet shakily. Papyrus the _fucking traitor_ just laughed.

            “Dude! Really?! Holy shit! T-This is hilarious! What’s the human’s name? Come on, tell me!”

            “Don’t you dare you fucking—“

            “Anna. I have not been informed of her family name, but her first name is Anna. She’s quite nice, especially for a human. I approve.” Papyrus said imperiously. Undyne took out her phone and started tapping away. A few seconds later she froze.

            “Woah, no way! Hey, Sans, does she own a blog?!” Undyne shoved a phone screen in his face, “This one! Is the human you’ve fallen for the owner of this blog?!” Sans pulled his head back to get a good look at the screen. Animus the Portrait?

            “Uh… donno. Never mentioned one, I think. Why?”

            “We, I mean, Alphys and I were looking for something to commemorate our anniversary when we saw this blog post! Dude, it looked just like you, so we commissioned a picture of ourselves and she delivered! Great work. So, Alphys, my beautiful evil scientist, did some tracking and found out her real name and location! Anna Collins! She even lives near you guys! Which, we figured since she ran into you and drew a sketch, see it?” Sans looked at the pretty decent sketch with a blog post detailing how she accidentally ran into him. He laughed a little.

            “Yeah, sounds like her. Didn’t know she did a sketch of me, but it’s not totally accurate. Must have been after the first time we ran into each other.”

            “Sans has been stalking her.” Papyrus added. Undyne snorted in laughter.

            “Have not!”

            “Have to, you lewd cretin.”

            “Oh, now this I gotta hear! Lay it on me, bonehead!” Undyne declared. Yep. He knew it. Training would be hell.

\--And now the reaction you _actually wanted to see in this chapter_.—

            Sans was so fucking exhausted. After Papyrus successfully embarrassed him for three hours straight about his damn (sort of) romance with Anna they went another round and got back late in the night. His boney ass was out so fast that he was surprised he even woke up before noon the next day. The first thing he did was send a text to Anna. He could really use some down time.

**[hey, u hme?]**

            A few minutes later he got a reply.

**[Hey Sans! Yeah, had a girl’s night last night and we dyed our hair! Wait till you see what Judy did to mine! It’s a little scary how focused she is for chocolate cake. You coming over till I have work?]**

            Right. She had work on Tuesday. Jesus he felt like his ass was kicked from one coast to the other. And she dyed her hair? This, he had to see. He hauled himself out of bed, sending a text real quick.

**[yh, shwr 1 st, thn I’ll b thre.]**

            He grabbed a red sweater and black sweats with gold stripes before heading to the shower. After a fast but exceedingly hot shower, he was ready to go.

            “Hey, Papyrus, I’m heading out.”

            “Don’t forget protection, brother!” Papyrus said cheerfully from the kitchen. Sans felt his entire skull flush.

            “Shut the fuck up!” he barked angrily as he opened the door and stomped out, trying to gather himself before popping over to Anna’s place, Papyrus’ laughter following him out. Slamming the door, he just managed to cool off in time to step forward into total darkness and come out just in front of her door. Taking a deep breath, he knocked firmly, the door opening seconds later. It made his ribs buzz happily that she might have been waiting just on the other side for him to come by.

            He was about to say something, but then everything inside him froze. It felt like he stepped into the void where time and space meant nothing. Her hair… it was red. Not just ‘ginger’ either, like humans normally had, but a deep bloody red. Before, her hair was dark and slightly shaggy pixie cut, but it had been trimmed and her bangs cut to sweep over her left eye just slightly. At the roots, her hair was a deep blood red and faded gently to just a few shades away from his own magic at the tips. It made her face look just slightly more flush than normal, and her eyes seemed so much more striking. Holy shit… she looked fucking _good_.

            “Woah…” She smiled, the apples of her cheeks a little more red. Was she blushing or was it his imagination?

            “W-Well, yeah… I like it myself. Uhm, are you coming in or…?” She said, struggling to maintain eye contact. He shook his head roughly.

            “Yeah! I mean, yeah. I’m coming in. You… you look beautiful, Anna… not that you didn’t before! I mean, red is just a really good color for you!” _Oh, yeah. Sure. That’s subtle. Great job you fucking moron. Why don’t you just proclaim that you’d like to see her wearing nothing but your magic? Since it’s red and all,_ Sans thought to himself. But she looked really happy as he walked past her and leaned against the couch where a few paper craft animals looked up at him before moving on with whatever the hell paper shit does in its spare time.

            “So, did Papyrus like the cake?” Sans jolted a little.

            “Uh, yeah. He did. He really liked it…” She raised an eyebrow at him in amusement.

            “You seem a little distracted Sans, was training rough?” Sans found himself nodding before he could think better of it, “Oh, well, why don’t we relax and watch a movie then? I have a few hours before work.” Once again, before common fucking sense could tell him what a bad idea that was, he spoke.

            “Only if I get to play with your hair. You could sit in my lap.” _FUCKING. HELL. WHERE’S UNDYNE WHEN YOU NEED HER? STRIKE ME THE FUCK DOWN. NOTHING ABOUT THAT WAS SUBTLE. GREAT. NOW SHE THINKS I’M A FUCKING FREAK OR_ —

            “Alright. What movie would you like to watch?” once more, he was speechless. Okay, seriously, was she completely ignorant of his intentions? Did she think that was a normal thing? _Sitting in someone’s lap?!_ Fuck it. After the horrible ordeal of yesterday, now was hardly the time to educate his precious little human in the corruption of individuals. Least of all _his own fucking corrupt mind_.

            “Whatever. Don’t care.” She snorted, embracing him quickly before turning on the TV and Netflix, quickly scrolling through the movies. Despicable Me. Good enough in his book. Then again, Gen. 2 of My Little Pony would be good enough at this point. He sat down on the couch and hardly believed his luck when she _actually fucking sat on his lap_. She leaned back against his chest as he wrapped one arm around her waist, his other hand coming to rest on her head, running gently through her inexplicably soft hair. Wasn’t dying human hair supposed to make it really dry? Must be hell of a conditioner… aannnndd he has contemplating what shower products she used rather than enjoying his situation. What the actual fuck?

            His hand stroked through her hair as he lost himself in how warm and soft she was. He managed to hold himself back from doing something really fucking creepy. Like loudly sniffing her hair or fondling her hips. Nope… hmm. Why does he smell strawberries? FUCK. KEEP IT COOL. DON’T BE CREEPY! DAMNIT!

            Frustrations aside, he couldn’t recall ever feeling so… content as when she nodded off in his arms. Everything just felt so… right, in that moment. Yeah, he was glad she caught his eye that day. Carefully, he adjusted the both of them until they were laying down and set his alarm to four. Plenty of time to get ready for work. Until then, he’d enjoy the quiet peace of her soft sighs and the soft strands of hair in his phalanges. Yeah, this must have been what heaven was like. Beautiful, like the gentle smile as she wrapped her arms around his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't quite expect Undyne to show up... huh. So, one of the problems I had getting down the concept of Undefell was the personalities of monsters like Undyne and Alphys. That's part of the reason as to why they don't appear much here. I mean, how can Undyne get more intense? Jesus Christ, I can't tell you how many times I died getting past her, and that was /before/ the battle. So, she's probably the one that changes the /least/. Her magic is tipped red, as red is the trademark Underfell color, but largely remains the same. I like to think she's chilled a bit since getting together with Alphys and has a bit of a hair trigger between battle mode and 'friendly' mode. 
> 
> And I hope you guys liked this bit of fluff I wrote out in this chapter. Hehe, poor Sans.


	16. Hellos and Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, here's a link to a finger spelling chart > https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=fingerspelling+chart&view=detailv2&&id=E562C45FE74DBD7D4C15255B97C61DEBFC16DAA6&selectedIndex=4&ccid=Gh4gb6c9&simid=607999080390592581&thid=OIP.M1a1e206fa73dfb3a29e4ebb13085ff06H0&ajaxhist=0
> 
> Challenge: Translate the phrase and find/identify the three obvious/sort-of-obvious symbols I use in this chapter. Hint: Yummy goddess treat, Fawkes, and gleam&glow.
> 
> Reward for first commenter to get ALL of it right: I will write a chapter on whatever prompt you like. If it doesn't fit within the story, it will be an AU sort of thing. Or posted as a separate one-shot, dedicated to the winner. Or, alternatively, I will try my hand at drawing (after a very long time) and draw an image related to whatever I have written so far in /any/ story. So, if you want an OC I have made, ask away, or a drawing of a character in one of my stories, go for it. But nothing for a fandom I haven't written yet. Technically, this excludes other Undertale AUs, but I can easily make an exception, since they don't change too much from verse to verse. I'm not bad at drawing, but i'm not... great either, so be warned. I will then post it on my deviantart and link it in whatever chapter happens to go up in time to do it. I will not totally rule out smut, but I ask for Mercy, not for myself, but for my roommate. She almost had a mental breakdown at the looming threat of me /possibly/ writing smut. So, yeah. Be nice, and have fun.

            _Be-_ The noise that suddenly jolted me from sleep was cut off as soon as it started. I muttered noiselessly into the warm fabric of Sans’ sweater and burrowed my face deeper. A chuckle rumbled around me as Sans’ brought a hand up and gently ruffled the back of my hair. I may or may not have whined keenly at the pleasant sensation.

            “Come on, sweetheart. You got an hour till work, but you need to get up.” I huffed and tightened my arms around him before letting go and pulling back. Somehow, I went from being seated in his lap to laying across him on the couch. Huh. He must have moved us after I fell asleep.

            “You are the best sleeping buddy ever. And the best handsy guy I know. I didn’t even _know_ my scalp was that sensitive.” He seemed to choke on something, his cheekbones lightly tinted like roses and I snorted, “Heh, you can’t even take a compliment. So _cute_ ~!” I cooed before climbing off to get dressed. I may have stumbled a little but I didn’t fall over, and that’s what mattered.

            When I entered my room I noticed how the various paper animals have basically just went everywhere. I wasn’t sure how the T-Rex even made it to the top of the dresser, but he was chilling there now. As a matter of a fact… now that I think about it, in the few days since I started just bringing every paper craft I make to life, I’ve seen them wander off just about everywhere. They end up in the fridge, the shower, under my sheets, and once I found a curious little cat stuck between the couch cushions.

            But there’s one place I have never seen them go, in fact, they avoid it at every opportunity. The closet. None of them like to go in there. I walked to the closet and looked around, my eyes reluctantly looking up to the folded quilt where a single, severely drooping paper crane rested. It looked like it had been rained on, but I knew it was dry. Carefully, I scooped it into my hand and set it down on the bed, shutting the closet door. Slowly, the paper crane fixed itself. I couldn’t blame it. I didn’t like to go in the closet myself, and I always felt a little bit depressed when I did. Oh. _Oh_ … _It wasn’t just my expectations that they followed… it’s my emotions too_.

_I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to make it hurt more! Annie, please! I’m so sorry…_

            Oh. Quietly, I got dressed in my proper work attire and returned to the living room, cuddling into Sans’ side without saying a word. He seemed to sense something wasn’t right, his arms immediately wrapping around me and running gently through my hair.

            “Hey… You alright?” I nodded my head.

            “Yeah, I’m just really tired.” I heard a light chirping sound as a red paper swallowtail landed gently on Sans’ head. I snorted a little at the nervous expression on Sans’ face as several more paper animals slowly made their way over to him. I noticed how most of them were red.

            “You know… you could always call in. I don’t mind.” I huffed a little and shook my head.

            “No, I’ll be fine.” I leaned my head back to look at his face and smiled. Oddly, I got the urge to… kiss his cheek? But before I could even think twice on the matter, a blue butterfly fluttered and landed softly on the crest of his cheekbone, wings obscuring almost half his face and I laughed. Sans sneezed (how the fuck?!) and the butterfly flew off his cheek and landed on top of his head.

            “Well, we still have a bit, but that… gecko? That gecko is giving my eye sockets a weird look and I’d rather not test my luck.” Said gecko ducked behind the remote, one painted eye narrowing at Sans evilly. I laughed a little harder and stood up.

            “Alright, let’s go before all of my paper crafts decide to assault you, sugar skull.” I paused, feeling my cheeks become warm as Sans looked stunned for a moment, “Huh… I guess I’ve been around you too long, using pet names rather than your actual name… I’m sorry, I’ll try not to call you that.” I said, averting my eyes from his own.

            “NO! I mean, no, that’s fine. I-I get the reference. It’s cool. As long as it’s you, I don’t mind. Not even a little.” I glanced back to see he was avoiding my eyes too, his cheekbones that pretty dusky red color. I smiled a little and gently scooped off the bird and butterfly from his skull, giving into impulse to kiss the crown of his frontal bone. I giggled a little and set the two paper crafts down before getting my jackets and putting them on. Sans, noticeably more red than before, walked up to me with my phone and keys.

            “Thanks, sugar.” I said, finding an odd amount of pleasure in how… well, _happy_ he looked at the new nickname. It was about time I gave him one. The walk was quiet and his phalanges tapping an odd beat against my upper arm as he held me close. The whole way to work, I couldn’t help but think of how happy I felt, but also of the small bubble of melancholy hiding underneath the surface. When he dropped me off, giddy and playfully glaring at Vicky, I knew today wasn’t going to end on a very high note. And I was right.

            Work was, in short, terrible. Students that suddenly realized they had just barely a month to finish whatever they were doing came in, frazzled and snappy. I sympathized, really, I did, but some of these shits were rude as hell.

            “No! This is not my brand of charcoal! You have to have it! Where’s Willow charcoal?!” I could tell a coffee low when I saw it, but damn, was it hard to reply.

            “W-Willow i-i-is f-from E-England, s-s-so we don’t g-get m-many s-shipments! W-We’d h-have to i-import it. T-The n-next s-shipment is c-coming in a—“

            “I DON’T CARE! I NEED IT NOW!” the very frazzled man shouted at me, “YOU FUCKIN—“

            “HEY! KNOCK IT OFF!” Vicky said from behind me, her hand pulling me behind her. On a good day, this would be difficult to handle, but right now I was on the brink of tears, “I’m not afraid to ban you from the store, sir.” His expression fell as he looked down in shame and frustration, “What my colleague was saying is that the next shipment is coming in the _day after tomorrow_. We usually have a good stock of Willow, since it’s pretty popular. _So come back then and we should have it stocked._ ” She paused a beat before continuing, “ ** _Have a good day, sir. Come back the day after tomorrow_**.” After that total drop in tone, she completely dismissed him and turned around to me, “Why don’t you take a break, pixie? Take as long as you need, okay? We only have two hours left and the crowd is pretty much gone. Your hair looks good, by the way, Judy works wonders when she has chocolate on the line, doesn’t she?” I took in a shuddering breath and nodded as her hand gently carded through my hair. It was relaxing but not nearly as much as when Sans did it. I went to the back and took deep breaths, my hand automatically reaching to a piece of spare printer paper to fold it into something, but when my fingers brushed it, a wave of warmth shot across the surface and it seemed to shake and fold in on itself.

            After several long moments it haltingly froze in the shape of a hand, a dark stain of ink (I guess something was printed on it before) creating a hole-like image on both sides of the palm. Shuddering, the hand jerkily made the universal gesture for ‘hello’ and began to… sign? It hovered in the air a few inches off the table as it moved slowly. I wasn’t familiar with sign… how?

_*Pinky up with thumb resting across first two fingers. Pause. Fist with thumb resting vertically against curled fingers. Closed fist with thumb peeking out from between pinky and third finger. Pause. Pointer finger extended upwards with thumb resting on curled middle finger. Fingers crossed. Pause. Pointing to the side with pointer finger. Fist with thumb resting vertically against curled fingers again. Fist with thumb across first two fingers. Fist with thumb between pointer and middle finger. Thumb curled into palm with fingers resting against it. Fingers crossed again._

            I quickly tried to remember the sequence of hand signs when suddenly the hand jolted and fell to the surface of the table with a light tap, all life gone. For a brief moment I was confused and terrified, the panic I felt bubbling in my throat abated. Then my ears rang in the silence with the sheer volume of the customer once more and I had to take several more deep breaths. I laid my head down on the table to try and reorient myself once more but slipped into sleep before I could gather myself again. I saw flashes in my sleep of things I couldn’t quite comprehend.

            An eternal darkness that had no end and no beginning. A tall figure in black with a smooth white face, like a mask, and clean circles for eyes with a shaky crescent for a mouth. The mask-like face was cracked. One crack going up from his right eye socket and one going down from his left. Fizzling red lights looked out at me as the broken crescent deepened and I thought I saw sharp teeth within. But then I was shaken awake and all the images fled my mind, leaving behind a heavy feeling of hopelessness and the unnerving feeling that I wasn’t alone.

            “Hey, pixie, I’m closing up. Your bonefriend’s here… we’ve been looking for ten minutes, we thought something happened.” I blinked blearily before it crashed down on me.

            “Oh! I’m so sorry, Vicky! I didn’t mean to fall asleep, I swear!” she quickly ran her hands through my hair soothingly.

            “It’s okay! Today just… wasn’t your day, you know? It’s fine. Not like anyone came in after that asshole anyway. Now come on, let’s go before the bonehead grinds his teeth to the… bone?” Vicky shrugged her shoulders and helped me stand up. I felt dizzy and lightheaded, “Woah, you alright there?” I nodded and walked to my jackets, more or less. I managed to put them on without issue. We walked together to the registers and Sans’ panicked expression eased slightly.

            “Hey, sweetheart, are you alright?” I nodded but didn’t say anything until I had my arms around his chest. There seemed to be an icy cold spot in my chest that sat heavily and made breathing feel difficult.

            “…Hey, sugar skull… let’s go home?” he looked a little concerned and exchanged a look with Vicky.

            “I’ll lock up, just… get her home safely. She’s had a rough day today.” Sans nodded and tucked me against his side, nuzzling my hair softly for a moment as we exited the doors. That icy feeling seemed to grow, along with the heavy negative emotions. I could only take it a few blocks before I hesitantly spoke up.

            “Hey… Sans?” He paused a moment and hummed quizzically, “C-Can you please… do that… that thing where you glow and I feel… _better_? Like, lighter and _happy_ and…” I trailed off awkwardly, my head ducking into the fluff of his jacket. He seemed to freeze before his steps returned to normal. Their beat kind of relaxed and heavy, like he was certain of wherever he was going in life. I felt immediate regret when he withdrew his arm from my shoulder and was about to apologize when he took my hand and pulled it into his pocket instead, obscuring the growing red glow from his bones as my system was flooded with _sweet warmth_. Tinged with a sharp feeling, it was like… feeling the taste of cinnamon apple pie. Warm and crisp with a… zing to it that I couldn’t quite pin down. “…thank you.” Sans hummed gently and squeezed my hand. We walked like that all the way home, he didn’t even let go of my hand when I tried to unlock my door, choosing instead to reach around with his other hand and awkwardly fish out my keys.

            His other hand then took out his phone and texted something before turning towards me. That soft look in his eyes melting away another layer to the ice in my chest.

            “Sweetheart, why don’t you pick out a movie. I’m staying over tonight… if that’s alright with you?” he said hesitantly, his eyes expressing his apprehension. At that moment, a red and gold patterned peacock flew over and rested on his shoulder. It was made of red paper and metallic gold paper to make my approximation of a phoenix. The colors suited him, I thought hazily, and I realized something. Words left my mouth, but they didn’t mean anything compared to what felt through every part of my being.

            “I’d really appreciate it… thank you, Sans.” At that moment, as he gently pushed me towards my room to change, I knew. I was in love. The signs were everywhere, the only question was _how_ I loved him. As a friend… or something more? But that was for another time, for tonight, my only concern was soaking in Sans sweet nature as he let me cuddle into his chest with Tangled in the background. Rapunzel singing a duet with Eugene about finding the light at last as my eyes drifted shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha, so you made it, may the odds be ever in your favor! I honestly didn't expect Gaster to show up like he did. I meant to have, like, a skull or a skeleton pop up, but when I looked up images for inspiration, I saw a lot of creepy ass hands and I was like "Bingo!" hehehe, and yes, I did use the image provided to transcribe the general hand movements of each letter. If the link, somehow, doesn't work, just google finger spelling alphabet chart, as Gaster only had one hand to work with.
> 
> And let the plot begin! Mwahahahaha!
> 
> Oh, and I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I just really wanted to do a small competition thing for the hell of it. But I will state it again, please don't be too mean. I mean, i'm giving the option of /any/ undertale verse. Including Underswap, Bitty, horrortale, and god knows what else this fandom has made in the last five minutes. The medium of drawing, if chosen, will be scanned from a colored pencil drawing. I'm not skilled in digital art, unlike Anna, so if you were on the fence about our prize, hopefully that will help out. Good luck!
> 
> Edit: three hours later: you are forgiven if the translation doesn't have pause as space, though I did fix it. Thanks Ryuze for pointing it out. Won't count against you. And consolation prize for the second and third place is an option. Not sure what just yet, but I think we can figure something out. Probably same as first.


	17. Soup and Failed Recruitment

            Waking up felt horrific. Every part of me was cold and unsettled, all the way to my bone marrow. But I was in bed, underneath my covers and tucked against Sans. Why did I feel like absolute shit? I took in a shuddering breath and I could feel my lungs rattle, a great cough heaving from my chest as I felt as though I would vomit soon. The world seemed to spin around as I tried to get up from Sans’ embrace. His arms pulled me closer as he slowly sat up, the motion too much for me, causing the world to spin faster. I may or may not have whimpered into his shoulder.

            “Woah, sweetheart? Are you alright? You’re burning up.” his cold hand—wasn’t it usually warm?—pushed back my bangs and swept over my forehead. I weakly leaned into his touch. “Shit, you have a pretty good fever there… Yeah, you’re not going anywhere today. Hmm… I’m going to take you to my place so Papyrus can watch over you while I get some medicine. Is there anything you want to take with you in the meantime?” my mind was sluggish and all I could think about was how I should probably grab my tablet and laptop. Maybe get some work done when I feel better. And clothes.

            “Laptop. Tablet. Clothes.” I muttered before ducking my head into his shoulder, groaning at the waves of fatigue I felt wrack my body as Sans rubbed my back soothingly.

            “Alright, sweetheart. Let me just take a shortcut to my place and have Papyrus keep an eye on you. I’ll make sure everything is fine, try and get some sleep now, okay?” I closed my eyes and tried to drift off again. Everything was fine. Sans is here. That chip of ice in my chest sizzled and popped ominously.

\--And now we have the sugar skull.—

            Sans was worried. Monster illness and human illness were two very different things. When a monster was sick, they just needed to purge their magic and take it easy. Humans, on the other hand, had a very different problem, in that it could literally be anything. Gently, he set Anna back down on the bed and quickly grabbed a bag to fill with a change of clothes and her requested items. The laptop and tablet were easy to find in the living room, as well as their respective chargers, and he stuck a nice pile of paper in there as well. The clothes were the hardest part. Well, not finding a comfy shirt and sleep pants, that was easy, but Sans felt all kind of dirty rifling through her underwear drawer. Quickly, trying not to linger (his imagination did _not_ need any more fuel), he grabbed a bra and panty set that kind of looked the same color. _It was just a coincidence that they were both red, he’d swear it till the day he turned to dust_.

            Opening up a quick shortcut, he tossed the bag onto the couch in his own apartment before gently wrapping Anna up in a blanket and stepping through himself. Softly, he placed Anna on the couch and took in her features. Her hair was slightly damp and her skin an odd mix of incredibly pale and really red. Her breathing seemed slightly labored and if he leaned in, he could almost hear a soft rattling of mucus in her lungs. He adjusted Anna more comfortably on his couch and turned to go into the kitchen to get a damp rag but stopped when he saw Papyrus leaning against the doorway, watching his movements neutrally.

            “Sans, what is wrong with Anna?” he relaxed slightly at the concern in Papyrus’ voice.

            “Not sure, bro. Might just be the flu, but I need you to make sure she’s alright while I go to the pharmacy.” Papyrus nodded imperiously.

            “But of course, brother. I have a recipe for chicken noodle soup I’ve been wanting to try for some time. I hear such things are good for sick humans.” Papyrus paused at the painful cough that Anna had before shifting back to sleep, “Do hurry, brother. That did not sound good.” Sans nodded and headed for the door, stopping to gently nuzzle Anna’s damp forehead and whisper.

            “I’ll be right back, sweetheart. You just hang tight with Papyrus.” Sans turned towards his brother, “Thanks, bro. She hasn’t thrown up yet, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.” Papyrus nodded in understanding and went to get a trashcan, he presumed anyway.

            He put on his best ‘don’t fuck with me’ expression and walked out onto the street to get medicine. He wasn’t in the mood for any smart ass bullshit. Not today.

\--Can the spaghettor even make soup?—

            Papyrus kept a close eye on Anna as he stirred the pot evenly. Chunks of grilled chicken floated past the already softening noodles. While his best dish was spaghetti, it wasn’t the only thing he could cook. It wouldn’t be terribly healthy if he did, and if there was anything he took seriously above all else, it was his and his brother’s health. Especially Sans, due to the abnormally low HP he was born with. While it wasn’t unheard of for a monster to gain HP, it was incredibly difficult. Hence the rigorous training schedule and constant healthy meals. HP was a born condition, a baseline of average health, but DF and AT were deeply connected to both emotional and physical condition. Though, monsters didn’t have to worry about health the same way humans did, since magic broke down whatever they ate or drank without anything left over. It was why they didn’t technically need toilets, though it did come in handy when a monster got sick and threw up tainted magic.

            Anna made a very distressed noise that had Papyrus quickly move to check on her. Her fever seems to have gotten worse, her face damp with sweat and tears as she panted for breath. He grabbed the damp rag on the table and wiped at her face, relief hitting her expression instantly.

            “Mmhm… Brian…” Papyrus froze at the unfamiliar name that left her lips on a forlorn sigh. Who was that? Papyrus’ mind spun as he checked on his soup. It should be done by the time Sans gets back.

\--How’s the errand run going along?—

            Sans walked briskly out of the pharmacy, plastic bag in hand with medicine and a thermometer. The lady behind the counter was quite helpful in recommending medicine and warning him to keep an eye on Anna’s temperature. If it got above one hundred and three, she strongly recommended that Anna go to the hospital immediately. And that she stay hydrated. He was halfway back to his apartment when he spotted Tommy, a dirty blond piece of shit, and his little gang trying to tail him. Smoothly, he walked into an alley and waited. Tommy was a part of a local gang that usually tried to recruit him and Papyrus as muscle. They suffered from a problem Sans liked to refer to as ‘believing everyone is as much of a little bitch as they themselves are’. Or, ‘dumbasses’ for short. Tommy and three other punks entered the alley with smug grins.

            “Sans! My man, I’ve got a new proposition for you!”

            “Is it for you to go fuck yourself, ‘cause I can get on board with that.” Tommy’s grin twitched a little, his dark gray hoodie shifting slightly around a handgun in his waistband.

            “Nope. My boss _really_ wants some variety in the gang. You can run deliveries, get a good cut with that handy magic you have. Or expand the little loan business you have in this neighborhood. Or anything else, the sky’s the limit, Sans. What do you say?” Sans heaved a great sigh.

            “Neither my brother nor myself are interesting in being token monsters in your damn pissing contests. So, no. Fuck off, Tommy, before I send you six feet under.” Tommy shook his head dramatically and clicked his tongue.

            “Sorry to hear about that… I didn’t even get to the best part. Total immunity for your little girlfriend. Heard she’s doing really good, about to graduate and everything. Hate for such a sweet thing to… get into trouble.” Sans felt everything in him freeze, his mind flashing to the very vulnerable Anna back on his couch, and suddenly his magic pumped through his system like fire. His white eyes blinked out as his grin sharpened.

            “T R Y  A N Y T H I N G  A N D  I  W I L L  H A V E  A   _G R E A T  T I M E_.” Sans said, the atmosphere heating up from the pressure of his magic. Tommy and his little gang faltered slightly and started to back away.

            “T-Too late, Sans! Our guys are already at her place. Don’t worry though, I’m sure she’s have a _great time_ too!” Tommy said before trying to run, but his form was already cloaked in red magic, gravity sending him to his knees. His little friends were slammed into the wall and knocked out, but Tommy… oh, Tommy, he wasn’t getting out of here without at least a few broken bones. It was only the fact that Tommy had said ‘ _her place_ ’ that saved his miserable life. If he had just left her alone in her apartment… his bones shuddered and clacked together as he took in a deep breath. His left eye sparking with red light.

            “The _only_ reason you’re not dead right now, Tommy, is because I know she isn’t home. But this… stunt won’t go unpunished. I A S S U R E  Y O U. This is the last warning you or your boss will get, Tommy. Try anything even _remotely_ like this again and I will slaughter every member of your gang and their families myself. Do you hear me?” Tommy nodded, his expression full of terror, “… _I don’t believe you do. Why don’t I **beat it into you, inch by inch?**_ ” A row of bones circled around Tommy as Sans began to laugh. Yeah, he was going to have a _great time_.

\--Wasn’t that close?—

            Sans was pretty exhausted by the time he got back to the apartment, half an hour later than he should have been, but Tommy was being _particularly difficult_. He also had to quickly check in on Anna’s apartment, spending a full five minutes to calm himself down from the mess it was in. Everything was trashed, the couch ripped to shreds as well as her bed, and the various paper craft animals torn, crushed, and utterly destroyed. Every last one. He called the cops, answered their inane questions, and contacted the land lord about the break in. He didn’t want to be… one of _those guys_ , but there was no way he’d let Anna stay there anymore. Absolutely not. But, that would have to wait until she was at least semi-conscious.

            He stumbled through the door to find Anna in Papyrus’ lap, her face tucked into his shoulder as she cried. Papyrus turned around with a rather helpless expression.

            “Sans! She’s been like this for almost twenty minutes. Says it feels like someone is stabbing her heart… brother, do you know why that it?” Sans suddenly wished he had spent just a _little bit longer_ on Tommy.

            “Tommy and his merry band of idiots tried to recruit me again, and you by extension. Turn out he had a feeling I’d decline and sent some of his buddies to Anna’s place. It’s wrecked, Papyrus. And every origami thing was reduced to pulp… I think we need to contact Alphys and check her Soul. You got her number?” Papyrus’ expression was thunderous as he nodded grimly.

            “I will call her now, try to soothe Anna and get her to eat, Sans. She’ll only make herself worse like this.” Papyrus eased Anna back onto the couch and Sans sat down the bag before quickly scooping her into his lap, his hands glowing softly as he rubbed her back and crooned in her ear.

            “Shh… it’s alright, baby. I’ve got ya, Sans is here. Come on, sweetheart, let’s get some soup in you, you’ll feel better in no time, I promise.” Anna’s eyes blearily opened up at him as he reached for the still warm bowl of soup and began spoon feeding her small bites, “There ya go, sweetheart. That’s a good girl, just take it easy now. Got some medicine for you after this, it won’t taste good, but that’s how you know it’ll work.” Sans crooned into her hair softly as she weakly ate every last bite he gave her, tears slowly fading away. If some of his magic slipped into the soup, mingling with blood orange magic, it wouldn’t hurt anything. After all, it was a common practice for a caretaker to slip in small bits of their own magic when their charge is sick. Though, neither one of them knew exactly what it would do for a human. Even if she was capable of magic, it would likely dissipate on its own later if it found no use, like stray magic usually does on its own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so only one person got all points right! Congrats AofRandD, you won first place! second and third goes to writeswithfeatherquills and Maddy for getting it at least mostly right. Neither one of you correctly guessed the Goddess treat, though I understand why you thought it was chocolate.
> 
> Translation: I am Dr. Gaster
> 
> Goddes treat: Cinnamon Apple pie, both items are associated with Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of Love and Beauty, among other things. This is why chocolate, while not what I meant, is acceptable, due to the romantic association of said treat.
> 
> Fawkes: Phoenix! Symbol of rebirth and new beginnings (which Sans brought with his involvement in Anna's life).
> 
> and gleam&glow: reference to the Tangled movie that was playing as Anna fell asleep, in particular, the song "At Last I See the Light", referring to Anna realizing that she loved Sans, even if she didn't quite figure out /how/ she loved him. That, and the two characters are kind of mirrored. Sans being like Flynn in that Flynn came from the 'wrong track', is involved in rather illegal things, and is rather charming. Anna and Rapunzel were isolated, Anna by choice and Rapunzel by her 'mother', and both are rather trusting and optimistic. Not to mention having magical powers that are largely responsible for their isolation.
> 
> So, yeah, i'm a huge fucking dork. I know. But anyway, send in what you want, words or drawing, and i'll try my best to deliver! Next time though, i'm making sure the comments aren't just automatically let through, just to make sure no one could just copy and shit. Not that it was a problem in this instance, but whatever. Ryuze, once again, thank you for pointing out the small issue of spacing I forgot to accomadate. And for being THE first, though not for everything else, you get to request a picture of any character shown in this story so far and in any verse, but only if the character has appeared in this story by name. So, say you want... IDK, bitty Anna and Sans cuddling, I can do that, but not Flowey or... say, Muffet, since neither have appeared yet. I await your challenges, winners!
> 
> Just don't forget to be kind. I MIGHT do smut request, but don't bank heavily on it.
> 
> Oh, and I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!


	18. AU first meeting/date!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As requested by AofRandD for winning first place. This is an AU first meeting if Anna wasn't so... isolated and shit. Made from provided prompt 
> 
> Congrats, dude. I really enjoyed writing this.

            The restaurant was nice. Classy. Expensive and needed a reservation about a month in advance to get a table at. I had even called myself to make the reservation and told Rosco the time and date for our first anniversary.

            Rosco was a charming man, ever messy black hair and absolutely enchanting ocean green eyes. He was the perfect gentleman, polite to a fault, and more than patient enough to get around my awkward moments. We met about three months and a year ago in the art store that I worked in at the time. He was everything I wasn’t with so much confidence heads turned every time he entered a room. But like any relationship, we had our troubles.

            He was distant, all the time, and barely acted like he wanted to be near me. I didn’t carry myself well enough, he’d say. It looks bad that his girlfriend is always slouched down and shy, he’d point out. I understood what he meant. He was the kind of a guy that looked good in a suit and rarely wanted to look anything but professional. He was artistic, but not… _whimsical_ , I believe he called it when referring to my way of doing things. He liked to be seen in every great spotlight, whereas I wanted to just stay home. I checked my phone. An hour late and no messages.

            This, a knee-length empire waist dress (without sleeves even) in damn near the perfect shade of his eyes with cute sandals and my hair reaching my shoulders in a bob, was me trying to be what he needed. What he wanted. But… as the time grew later and even the waitresses started to give me pitying looks, I had the sinking feeling that I’d never _be that_. It was too late, and he wasn’t going to give me the chance to really _try_. My speech patterns started to dissolve into a mess of stutters as I tried to shore up my courage to walk out with at least my chin up rather than tucked into my chest. My eyes drifted sightlessly to the open window next to my table. My attention was pulled from my inner musings at an odd sight across the street.

            There, dusting off their nice leather jacket, was a skeleton. Monsters weren’t _rare_ , but it was a pretty uncommon sight. This one seemed male, from the cut of his jacket I presumed as much, and wore a nice red sweater, a pair of dark wash jeans being held up by a black belt. His shoes, from what I could tell, were sneakers, but there was a charm to the goofy shade of red and yellow I saw on his feet. My eyes shot up to his face where white eyes (eye lights?) looked out at me in slight shock. I must have looked pretty pathetic if this intimidating skeleton smiled softly at me, a gold tooth glinting in the street lights. I could feel my eyes were damp as I looked away to address the waitress walking up to my table with a refill for my drink. She looked at me like I look at soaking wet cats. So much pity. I sighed and prepared to tell her to not bother. I heard a flurry of fast footsteps that I didn’t recognize come to a stop besides my table just before the waitress could get there. What? It… it was the skeleton from outside.

            “Sorry, sweetheart. Traffic is killer out there, _dead_ cars for miles, I swear!” He said as he sat across from me with a slightly nervous smile as he dropped his voice so only I could hear, “Sans… uh, I’m Sans. Just go along with it, alright? Whoever stood you up is an asshole.” The waitress came over, her expression tight as she looked at Sans with a distrustful expression.

            “Would you like a menu, sir?” Sans looked at her and smiled.

            “Yes, thank you. Sorry for the hold up… Vicky.” Sans said as he looked at her name tag. Vicky raised an eyebrow at him but handed him a menu anyway. Sans opened up the menu and looked at the options.

            “Very nice spread they got here, sweetheart.” Sans said nervously, a few sweat drops inexplicably forming on his skull. He looked about as nervous as I felt. I chuckled a little.

            “Anna.” Sans looked up in surprise from his menu, “My name is Anna… _thank you, Sans_.” I whispered softly and watched as his face turned into the prettiest shade of red I’d ever seen. He looked so… _cute_.

            “N-No problem, swe—Anna. I should be thanking you, actually.” I gave him a questioning look, “I should be thanking _you_ for the honor of eating with such a beautiful woman… though to be honest?” there it was. The part where he mentions something that isn’t right about my appearance. Even Rosco had a moment like that, where he then told me that I didn’t look good with short hair, that he thought it looked horrible on women in general. But then, he amazed me, “You don’t look comfortable wearing that. Don’t get me wrong, now! You look _stunning_ , but you don’t really look… at ease in that. The dress that is. You keep trying to cover your arms, like you feel too exposed…” Sans’ face turned a little darker, “You could borrow my jacket, you know… if ya want.” I was stunned. My world halted a moment, those insidious little whispers about my flaws falling silent. Reminding me of a time where I didn’t care what I wore, as long as I was comfortable, sometime before I started dating Rosco. My phone beeped and I pulled it out to look at the new message.

**[Sorry, I can’t make it. It’s probably for the best, anyway. You don’t really… _fit in_ inside such a nice place. Rain check?]**

            My hand shook slightly as a voice I hadn’t heard in a long time spoke up. _And what the fuck does that mean, ass?!_ My fire. I looked up at Sans and smiled. I knew what to do now.

**[No thanks, we’re through. It’s for the best though, since I never really fit with you anyway. Have a good life, Rosco.]**

            I put up my phone and nodded.

            “I’d appreciate it, it’s rather chilly in here.” Sans easily shrugged off his jacket, but rather than just handing it to me, he walked around the table to put it gently over my shoulders. I was embraced with a sense of warmth and the smell of mustard, spaghetti, and something _sweet_. Without a word, Sans went back to his seat. I heard my phone buzz again but ignored it. I was through wasting my time trying to be what I’m not.

            When the waitress, Vicky, came back we both ordered and chatted lightly. I felt lighter than I had ever been in a year. No pressure or judgement. Just gentle conversation. When we finished, Sans didn’t even let me pay, instead insisting Vicky take his money and keep the good amount of change as a tip. He stood up, easing my chair out for me and offering his arm to escort me out dramatically.

            “Would you do me the _grand honor_ of walking with me, sweetheart?” I laughed and put my arms through his jacket before gently taking his arm, my hand entwining with his. We walked out into the slightly chilly air peacefully.

            “Thank you, Sans. I didn’t expect to have such a great time tonight.” Sans looked over at me and smiled softly.

            “Well, then your original date must have been a down right _bore_ if a bonehead like me can top him.” I snorted a little, “Which isn’t fair to anyone, really. Comparing a no show to a surprise date. How about I take you out on a proper date? No fancy restaurant, unless you want of course.” I looked up at him in surprise and laughed.

            “I’d love nothing more, Sans!” he looked particularly pleased with himself at that. That almost disaster turned out to be the best night of my life, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

\--Bonus content!—

            Sans kicked the prick one last time before walking out of the alley. Try and mug _him_ , of all people? Really? Heh, dumbass. He felt someone watching him suddenly, which wasn’t new. Monsters were still something of an oddity on the surface, but it wasn’t a look of hate or disdain. Just curiosity. He followed the feeling until his eyes went to the window of a nice restaurant across the street, the sight he saw there tugged on his Soul. It was a human woman, dark hair in a clean bob above her shoulders with a beautiful blue dress. She was quite beautiful, all things considered, until he realized her pretty honey eyes looked suspiciously damp and she seemed to be shaking a little. The seat across from her was completely empty. She’d been stood up. She looked away, her face turning to address the approaching waitress, and Sans knew he couldn’t just stand there. Every part of his magic and Soul called out to him, and he embraced it. His feet dashed across the street and into the restaurant to the table he saw from outside.

            He made it just before the waitress could and he mentally congratulated himself.

            “Sorry, sweetheart. Traffic is killer out there, _dead_ cars for miles, I swear!” he exclaimed as he sat down across from her. Any doubt he had about his actions went away when he saw the relief in her eyes. “Sans… uh, I’m Sans. Just go along with it, alright? Whoever stood you up is an asshole.” Sans whispered. He’d do a damn sight better than the asshole who didn’t even show, that’s for sure. He’d make sure she didn’t have a reason to cry all alone, for one, of that he was certain. These strong emotions felt right in his Soul, and when she agreed to a second date, he knew it was just meant to be.


	19. Soul Check

            After giving Anna a healthy spoonful of what was undoubtedly horrific tasting medicine she fell asleep in his arms. Small tremors clattered through his bones at what could have been. _Too close_. His mind whispered. They weren’t out of the ballpark yet, but with Alphys less than an hour away he could feel his eyes drifting shut. He readjusted himself so Anna wouldn’t fall out of his arms and settled in to take a nap until Alphys got there.

            What seemed like seconds later he felt Papyrus shaking him awake.

            “Sans, Dr. Alphys can’t check on Anna if you insist on hoarding her like that.” Sans blinked his eyes open blearily and looked down. In his sleep he had tucked Anna between the couch cushions and himself, shielding her almost entirely from view. Looking at his brother he noticed Alphys almost shaking in excitement, a very… lewd glint in her eyes. Shit. Heaving a sigh, he rolled over so Alphys can reach Anna.

            “Sans~! I see you’re awfully close to the human! And to think I thought Undyne was exaggerating! Hehehehe…” Alphys giggled to herself, her checks turning a very suspicious shade of red before she shook herself, “Right, I brought everything I need… why exactly do you require my services? I mean, it might just be the flu or something, humans _do_ have so many internal parts that can malfunction, unlike monsters.” Papyrus shifted uneasily, clearly wanting to tell but fully aware that it wasn’t his secret to tell. Sans ran a hand through Anna’s hair and sighed.

            “You do have patient confidentiality, right Alphys?” Alphys nodded, “Well, Anna has magic.” Alphys’ eyes went wide in surprise.

            “OH! T-This is better than my fanfiction plot!” Sans narrowed his eyes at her and she had the decency to at least _look_ sheepish.

            “She folds origami things and they… come to life, more or less. When she got sick Sans brought her here and went to the store, during that time someone broke into her apartment and trashed the place, destroying all her origami things… Sans is worried because she _felt pain_ from that, Dr. Alphys. Can… can you check on her Soul?” Alphys nodded but then froze. She looked at the two of them with a sneer.

            “I will _not_ bring out her Soul for inspection in front of you two boneheads! Sans! Take her to your room while I ask Papyrus about her magic.” Sans nodded. A Soul was a very… fragile and personal thing. As much as he _wanted_ to see Anna’s Soul, he knew that it was a very important issue of _trust_. Maybe after all this, he’d explain Souls to her, making sure she was aware of how personal it was, and ask for permission to see hers. If he wasn’t so worried about her health, Sans sure as hell wouldn’t let _anyone_ , let alone Alphys, just pull out her Soul. One wrong move and Anna… she’d never be the same.

            Careful not to wake her, Sans gently carried Anna to his room, that knot of anxiety easing a little more at having Anna in what was basically his territory. Yeah… he might as well wear a crude fur covering and carry a roughly carved club, he was degrading into a fucking cave man. Fucking hell. He placed her under the covers and spent his time waiting for Alphys by gently ruffling Anna’s hair. Her fever hadn’t changed, which was better than getting worse, he guessed.

            A few minutes later Alphys shuffled in with her medical bag.

            “Alright, Sans, you can leave. I promise I’ll check on her Soul and look into her magic, but you need to leave for that…Sans. Your room is a mess.” He looked around at the… organized chaos and shrugged.

            “Where’s Undyne?” Alphys pushed up her glasses, slightly flustered.

            “Checking out the local area. Grabbing something to eat. You know, just being… out and about. Now shoo! Shoo, Sans, before I make you my new test subject!” Alphys cackled with a dramatically evil laugh. Sans reluctantly left the room, his own fucking door slamming shut behind him. If that overgrown lizard tried anything… _fishy_ , he’d hang her by her toes on a sky scrapper and fucking drop her.

\--What kind of degree does Alphys have anyway?—

            Alphys could dance, she was so happy! When Undyne came back after an impromptu training session with the skeleton brothers with news about Sans, they worked almost all night making highly inappropriate sketches. Sans in love? With a _human_? Oh, it was delicious! Well, the sketches were rather… lacking in detail since they didn’t know what Anna looked like beyond a college photo taken almost three years ago, and that was just a head shot.

            As she approached the bed, Alphys couldn’t help but think this was her favorite new pairing. She had so many questions! Did Anna _mean_ to dye her hair the color of Sans’ magic, or was it a coincidence? Who topped and who bottomed? Quickly, she halted her thoughts, she had a job to do. Fantasizing could be properly done later, right now, she needed to make sure her OTP didn’t break apart from tragedy, as delicious as such things made a romance. Sans _was_ her friend after all. Taking out her equipment she set them on the bed carefully. When all of her tools were set up, she brought her paw over Anna’s chest, carefully pulling with her magic until a glow lit up from her patient’s chest. She gasped… it was better than she ever would have been able to guess.

            A blue so dark she thought it was the night sky at first, which was fitting, since blue wasn’t the only color she had. Humans usually didn’t have many colors, especially children, but in her studies, Alphys discovered that a good amount of Souls gained several, depending on the lives they have lived. But she had never seen a Soul like this, probably because the other humans she had examined didn’t have magic. Spiraling from the center was a galaxy of soft green and pale blue. When she looked hard enough, Alphys could make out a small heart of deep red in the very center.

            So, Anna had Integrity, Kindness, Patience, and just a little bit of Determination… yeah, this was officially her favorite ship. Pulling up a scanner, she looked at Anna’s stats.

**Anna Collins**

**LV: 1**

**HP: 35/40**

**DF: 50**

**AT: 5**

            Rather telling of her personality, though her HP should be a bit higher considering her age. Frisk had 20, but they was thirteen at the time, and no one liked to talk about why they fell into the underground in the first place. Taking out another scanner, this one made to sample the Soul to get a read on magic levels.

**Primary Magic: Animus**

**Secondary: ?**

**MP: 230/240**

**Permanent Status [Shared Empathy] in Effect**

            That was… unexpected. There were hundreds of particular magic types with varying strengths and weaknesses, but she’d never seen someone with _that_. But the status certainly explained why it would hurt the human to have her origami creatures ripped apart. It probably happened because the origami was still ‘alive’ at the time of destruction. MP was pretty high for a human, at least, Alphys assumed it was. Taking one last scanner, Alphys checked the Soul again. She doubted that it would have any results, despite how close Sans was to her. This scanner checked on the status of Soul Connections.

**SC: EEEEEeeeEEeeERRrrRRooooOOOOrrrRRR**

**Device Malfunctioning.**

**Device Malfunctioning.**

**This is not your business, Alphys.**

            Alphys felt a chill run down her spine as the scanner started to smoke and glitch out. Carefully, she put her equipment away, resolving herself to not mention this until she had looked into it.

\--Touchy much?—

            Sans bounced his leg impatiently for Alphys to come out and tell them what was up with Anna. Papyrus was in the kitchen busying himself, but Sans had nothing but his thoughts to occupy himself. He nearly jumped when he heard his bedroom door open and Alphys’ quiet footsteps walking over to him. Alphys looked… very neutral. She looked at him, something unsettled in her gaze, and Sans felt his magic freeze in place. What did she find out.

            “…She’ll be fine, Sans. She just needs rest. She has Animus magic with a permanent status of Shared Empathy, which means that what she gives life to has a minor connection to herself. Like a cyclical feedback. When the origami creatures were destroyed she felt pain from that feedback for the first time and took minor damage. But given food and rest, she’ll be just fine. I’d recommend teaching her to be more aware of her connections… Sans, her HP is a bit low for her age group, but her defense is pretty impressive. 40 HP against 50 DF, though her AT is only 5.” Sans nodded, trying to take in what he was being told, though it was very reassuring to hear that Anna would be fine. Curiosity overtook him.

            “Alphys… what color was her Soul?” It was a slightly personal question, but not so much that it was incredibly rude to ask. Alphys thought for a moment.

            “Dark blue… mostly. Undyne and I are staying in town for a bit, call me if anything goes south, alright?” Sans nodded and let Alphys out.

            “Thank you for checking, Alphys. See you around.”

            “Bye Sans.” He closed the door and looked back at Papyrus, who seemed quite relieved.

            “Go ahead and sleep, Sans. I’m making more soup for dinner. She’ll be fine.” Sans nodded and retreated to his bedroom, quickly curling around Anna and falling asleep. He belatedly noted how her fever had dropped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small reminder for writeswithfeatherquills and Maddy to send in their requests for winning second and third place, as well as Ryuze for a picture request as stated in previous chapters.
> 
> Anyway, look at that plot chugging along! Hah, never expected to bring Alphys into this! I was a little worried about what to do for Anna's Soul color, but then I thought about how people usually aren't /just/ one thing, so I made Anna mostly one thing with spots of smaller things. And I thought it was cute how red was literally the center of her being. Just a small part of her, but at the very center. Oh, and prepare for feels. I made this with plans, people. Rarely ever do I write super fluff without super BREAKING YOUR HEART AND SOUL!!!
> 
> Oh, and if you think something should be tagged, please do say so. And I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.


	20. Questing but not Quite Questioning

            Waking up I felt sluggish, but significantly better than last night I had vague memories of being fed soup again, faint soothing touches along my back and through my hair. I tried to get up but was met with incredible resistance and an almighty growl. Startled, I fell limp to the bed and turned my head. It was Sans, his teeth bared aggressively despite his eyes being held totally shut (still a weird sight). He pulled me closer and nuzzled into my hair, his growls subsiding. Is… is this a monster thing? I tried moving again and nearly jumped at how quickly he startled awake, a growl heavy in his chest as he gripped my waist tightly.

            He stopped growling as his eyes took in the total emptiness of the room before finally looking down at me, relief very much evident. How long was I asleep?

            “Oh, you’re awake, sweetheart. I thought that…” Sans shook his head and helped me sit up, his arms still not leaving my waist.

            “What? How long have I been out?” Sans thumbs idly stroked back and forth along the small strip of exposed skin above my pants.

            “Well, what’s the last thing you can remember? You were running a pretty bad fever for a while there.” I thought a little before replying.

            “Well, the last clear thought I had was in my apartment before I woke up sick, but the last thing I can totally recall is… you helping me eat soup in here.” I felt my cheeks warm… _right_ , “Uh… thanks for that, by the way. Helping me, that is.” I really needed to get back to my apartment so I can think clearly.

            “Oh, well that was last night, so you haven’t been out long. It’s almost noon… oh, right, you’ll probably want to take a shower, right? Are… are you feeling up to that? I can just run a bath! We can talk after that.” uh… talk? Talk about what? Did…. _did I say something embarrassing in my sleep?_

            “Sans, I’m fine, all I want to do is shower and head home.” Sans froze, “Sans… did… did something happen while I was sick?” Sans heaved a heavy sigh.

            “I was… hoping that I’d get to tell you _after_ you cleaned up…” Sans said awkwardly, seeming to hope that I’d drop it. Not with a sketchy reply like that.

            “Sans…what happened?” Sans squeezed me a little tighter before letting go with a sigh.

            “…Quite a lot, actually… where do I start?” Sans asked rhetorically before actually continuing.

            My mind reeled as he talked about the goons that approached him, the state of my apartment, those phantom pains I could recall but not comprehend, and he reluctantly spoke of how he called in a doctor friend and told them about my magic. I felt… conflicted. On the one hand, he had a very good reason to tell this Dr. Alphys about my magic, but on the other… I’ve only told three people in my entire life.

            “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I couldn’t ask you if it was okay because you were already so… out of it.” I didn’t look him in the eye for several moments, “But she found out some interesting things. Wanna hear about it?” Sans asked gently. I looked up at him and shook my head.

            “Not… not right now… I’m not mad at you for telling. I know you were really worried, but I just need to…” I shook my head, “I’d like to take that shower now… and after that see what I can salvage from my apartment… See if I can still live there—“

            “Absolutely not, Anna.” I looked up at him in surprise, “We got really lucky, sweetheart. You were so close to being… if I had just decided to leave you in your apartment you’d be… no. Just. Just no. I know I’m being… pushy, and the last thing I want to do is force you to do something you don’t like, but you are not staying there.” His eyes seemed to flicker red as he grimaced. He was completely serious.

            “Sans… I don’t exactly _have_ anywhere else to go besides my apartment.” I said, feeling a little lost. He pulled me against his chest and nuzzled my hair.

            “You can stay here for however long you need, sweetheart… it _is_ kind of my fault after all. I’ll even help you find a better apartment. One a little more… safe. But until then, you’ll stay here. End of question.” My hands hesitantly gripped the material of his jacket in an embrace.

            “…fine. But I’m helping pay rent. And we’re combing through my apartment for what I can keep today… after I take a shower, that is. I feel… really gross right now.” Sans chuckled, clearly in a better mood after winning.

            “Alright… are you sure you don’t want to take a bath instead?” I shook my head.

            “Maybe another time, but we have stuff to do today. I like to soak until I’m a prune when I take a bath.” he chuckled a little more and let go of me.

            “Alright, fine. Your clothes are in that bag right there. I’ll go and make sure there aren’t any… unpleasant surprises in your apartment.” I nodded my head and stumbled my way to the bag, pulling out the first thing my hand touched. Did he go through my underwear drawer? Suddenly, I was glad he wasn’t in the room anymore, since I just turned so red my face matched my hair. And the matching bra and panty set that Vicky bought me as a joke for Christmas.

\--Feels… _soon_.—

            After a shower I felt… better. More… put together. I still needed to deal with my feelings for Sans, which seemed to be something that will take longer than I’d like, but overall prepared to face my apartment. Sans was waiting in the living room with Papyrus in the kitchen. Again. Does he live there or does he actually have a bedroom in this place? I waved to Sans and tiptoed my way to the kitchen, sneaking up behind Papyrus with a grin. Sans leaned across the couch to watch as I slowly made my way behind the tall skeleton cooking something on the stove. I was only a foot away from him when he spoke.

            “It is nice to see you’re awake and healthy once more, Anna. Undoubtedly, your swift recovery was possible due to my amazing soup making skills.” I clicked my tongue, but was unwilling to give up on my original goal. I slipped my arms around the waist of his pants and gave him a hug.

            “Indeed! Within the dark and foggy lens of my fever I can clearly recall the heavenly taste of your soup! I thought to myself, ‘why, I must get better immediately in order to thank the merciful angel responsible for this heavenly dish!’ And so it was!” I declared majestically with a shit eating grin, enjoying the blood orange blush that overtook Papyrus’ entire skull. He looked back at me with a glare that didn’t really have the intended effect since he was also clearly smiling softly.

            “I am glad someone recognizes the prowress of the Great and Terrible Papyrus, unlike some brothers I can mention.” Papyrus said, looked at the smirking skeleton on the couch, “But I hear you are going through your things, please don’t take too long, lunch will be ready in an hour… and don’t push yourself. If you feel like it is too much, tell my lazy brother and he will take you back here for a break, since he favors you so much.” Papyrus said, a choking sound coming from the living room.

            “I know, he’s a great friend like that.” I said, the choking sound getting a little harsher, “Are you alright in there, Sans?”

            “I—I’m fine! Ack—Just peachy!” he voiced seemed a little strained, likely from all that coughing. I withdrew my arms from Papyrus and went into the living room.

            “Alright, you ready to get this over with?” Sans pounded his chest once more, his face quite red as he nodded.

            “Sure—Heeeh—let’s go.” He held out his hand and got off the couch, pulling me to his chest when I grabbed his. A familiar cold breeze swept by, but I could have sworn I heard something in that small instance.

**[Anna…]**

            I pulled away from his chest but found that we were already in front of my door. It had clearly taken some damage, the wood dented in and the doorknob missing entirely, the only real boundary being the police tape that had fallen to the floor, no longer need I suppose. Carefully, I pushed open the door, my hand never leaving Sans’ grip. I wasn’t entirely prepared for what was on the other side.

            The first thing I noticed was the colorful bits of paper scattered _absolutely everywhere_ , like demented confetti. The TV smashed all to hell and the couch ripped apart without mercy. My head turned towards the kitchen where it looked like the contents of the fridge were used in a bomb. So much for scavenging what little food I had. Clearly, there was nothing they didn’t break or destroy entirely in the living room. I walked down the hallway, glancing into the bathroom to see it in similar shape to the rest of the apartment. Taking a deep breath, squeezing Sans’ hand for reassurance, I pushed open my bedroom door. At that moment, I felt like I was going to cry.

            It seems as though nothing was spared. All my clothes were scattered about, a good portion ripped to shreds. The intruders seemed to have taken particular glee in spreading my underwear around like hellish sprinkles. I didn’t think I would be able to wear any of this again, even if the clothing was spared. Not while I was acutely aware of the fact that someone had seen, in intimate detail, the entirety of my wardrobe. I belatedly realized that the bed was also shredded. I didn’t even notice that I was crying until Sans turned my around and pulled me into his arms, his hands never stopping their soothing motions of running through my hair and rubbing my back

            “I am so sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t realize this would upset you so much, or I would have made you stay with Papyrus. It’s okay to cry, I’ve got you, just let it all out.” my arms were limp for several seconds before they shakenly reached up and clutched the back of his jacket like a lifeline. I cried unpleasantly in great heaving sobs, my words seemed like nonsense, but he let me go on anyway.

            “S-Sans! I-I can’t wear those a-a-again! T-T-They saw and-and-and--!” I turned my head against his shoulder, my eyes catching on the closet. I cried harder when I realized that only one thing remained unscathed. The one thing I… might not mind if it never existed in the first place. I cried harder, Sans holding me close as he sat down on the floor and rocked me a little. We must have been like that for almost half an hour before I finally calmed down.

            “…So there’s nothing you want to take with you? No photos hidden anywhere or…?” I sighed, my throat feeling dry and scratchy.

            “…They didn’t see the quilt on top of the closet… I could never throw it out.” Sans turned his head to look but couldn’t see from his vantage point.

            “Then we’ll grab it and go. I’ll call someone to clean this place out and you’ll never have to come back again. Come on, sweetheart. You’ve been so brave, it’s almost over.” He crooned gently as he stood the both of us up. Softly, he walked over to the closet and watched as I shakily reached up and pulled it out. It was then he must have realized it wasn’t just a quilt, since the fabric held a suspiciously firm rectangular shape. The room was filled with heavy silence as my knees suddenly felt weak and I collapsed, Sans quickly crouching down beside me in concern. Before he could say anything, my hands softly pulled away the warm and heavy quilt to reveal the back of a portrait. A small leather scrapbook sitting innocently against the wooden support frame for the canvas. Setting the scrapbook on the ground, I turned the portrait over.

            “The first and last portrait I’ve ever done of a human… the first portrait I’ve ever brought to life.” I felt a fresh wave of tears come over me as I took in the devastated expression of Brian. His face damp with tears as his lips were frozen halfway through an apology that, to this day, I don’t know if it came from him… or myself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The feels I promised! And a second instalment in the next chapter! Oh, and I made that picture you requested, Maddy... it didn't turn out like I wanted it to. Pain in the freaking ass, I swear. Should have just gone with a chibi picture, but no, I was too generally satisfied with how Harry turned out. Like I said before, i'm good, but not great. Oh, and Frisk was Determined to not be a fully formed human, so you get Frisk riding the Annoying Dog with a wand. Congrats. Fun to draw but still a pain in the ass. Just remove the spaces.
> 
> http ://mamamittens .deviantart .com/art/HP-and-Frisk-608430750?ga_submit_new=10%253A1462999601&ga_type=edit&ga_changes=1&ga_recent=1
> 
> writeswithfeatherquills and Ryuuze, don't forget that I still owe you guys a request... though i'm opening it now to preferably a story prompt rather than a picture since that's a pain in the ass to put on Archive. I'll still do it if you ask, but just know that it's easier and quicker for me to write a story rather than draw something.


	21. A Perfect Portrait of Mourning

            Sans was torn. Torn between telling Anna she didn’t have to talk about it and telling her it was okay. In the end, he didn’t have to do either. He looked at the 24 by 16 inch canvas with a baby blue background. In startling detail was a young man with shaggy black hair and eerily familiar golden eyes. He was handsome and rugged, like he enjoyed the outdoors quite a lot. Sans could see a lot of similarities between Anna and Brian, mainly their nose and cheekbones. But the most distressing thing about the portrait was how incredibly detailed his sorrow was. The human face did not handle crying well, and every part of that was captured in excruciating detail. Brian’s hand seemed to reach out, as if trying to grab or cup something gently, with his lips seemingly frozen around a word Sans couldn’t define as anything but regret.

            “He didn’t always look like this… but when I figured out what I had done, I couldn’t keep up… keep up _the charade_.” Anna whispered, her voice hoarse and scratchy. Sans reluctantly looked into Brian’s eyes and was hit with how much he looked like Anna once more. When they were upset, their eyes seemed like dull sunshine or the dying petals of a buttercup. Unable to speak, Sans nuzzled against her gently, fighting tears of his own. At some level, he had always known there was more to Brian’s story than just death. That Anna had never properly grieved the loss of her brother. And now, it seems he would know the full story… “He was the golden child of my parents, even after his death. He was the best big brother I could ask for, and after his death, his became my gravest mistake…”

\--Flashback of Pain and Agony!—

            Brian Collins was born a healthy baby boy, athletic and proud since the day he could walk. My parents were overjoyed at having such an accomplished child. They had only the highest of hopes when they had a baby girl. Me. Years went by and Brian continued to be exactly what my parents wanted. He had charm and charisma, lots of friends, but still spent time with his parents and little sister. I… I wasn’t what he was, but that was okay. My parents were just happy that one child looked to be a successful growing adult… and then, it happened. Brian was only seventeen when it happened, and myself thirteen. He just… collapsed at the dinner table. When we took him into the hospital they ran so many tests. I can remember thinking how lifeless the hospital seemed as we waited for news. News about anything. And then, I wished that… somehow, we were never told anything. As though, it wouldn’t really _count_ if it wasn’t said.

            Cancer. It was too far advanced for a quick in-out procedure. It would take months of chemotherapy to get rid of it, if at all. My parents immediately signed him up for anything that could help and my brother spent his last two birthdays in the hospital, surrounded by his family and closest friends. I’d visit him every day, my parents slowly getting consumed in their work to both pay for the hospital fees and stave off the dark shadow that had consumed us. The promise of death.

            One day, when I was fourteen, I came in and he was folding up little paper birds.

“Hey, have you heard?

About the legend of the thousand paper cranes?’

            _“Sounds like a scam to make you buy more paper…”_

“Hahaha, yeah. You’re right. It sounds silly… but would you like to try it anyway?”

            And that’s how I learned about origami and paper cranes… and my magical ability to bring them to life. After that, life didn’t seem so dark. I mean, I could do _magic_! In this new and wonderful reality, death had no place… but death made one anyway. I was barely sixteen by a day when we buried him. I was barely sixteen by a week when I decided to pour my grief into a final portrait of Brian. I was meticulous. Every detail of his smiling and _healthy_ face was committed in layers of paint through hours of hard work. It probably wouldn’t have taken so long if I didn’t burst into tears with every other hour that I spent painting. When it was done and the paint dry, I looked at my greatest masterpiece. It was beautiful. It was heartbreaking. I reached out and stroked the gentle golden tan, wishing that I felt skin under my hand rather than paint. That’s when it happened.

            A small spark of magic.

**“I love you, Annie. You know that, right?”**

            He was alive once again, but only in the frame of the portrait that I had painted. For hours I stayed in my room, talking to him once more about everything that had happened. I was… happy. Mom and dad didn’t even notice my isolation, they were so involved in work now. This went on for over a month. I’d wake up, say good morning to Brian, go to school, come back, and talk with Brian again. And then, it happened.

            _“Hey, Brian, this math homework is kicking my ass, can you help me with it?”_ I can remember his laughter as he shook his head.

**“You know I suck at math… Hey, why don’t you try asking Einstein over there? I’m pretty sure he can help.”**

            I had a poster of him, as an awkward birthday present a few years back. It seemed like nothing could go wrong. I approached the poster and… brought it to life. Einstein blinked slowly and closed his mouth from the bizarre tongue-in-the-air expression that the photo was famous for.

            _“Hey, Einstein, I’m sorry to bother you, but can you help me with this?”_ I showed him the math assignment and Einstein’s face seemed to woodenly twist into comprehension. He opened his mouth to speak… but nothing came out. Brian and I were confused for several moments.

**“Maybe… it’s because he’s a black and white poster? Don’t you have a few… color photos laying around?”**

            Brian suggested uneasily. I walked over to my scrapbook filled with family photos and turned to the page with Uncle Bart as Santa Clause. He passed away the year after the photo was taken. Uncle Bart came to life, his laughter clear as day, but he didn’t do anything but laugh. The one thing I could _remember_ about him, that big booming laugh.

            _“I… I don’t get it… maybe it’s because I’ve never heard Einstein speak…. Before…”_ Realization dawned on me, as well as growing horror. I looked up at Brian’s portrait, his expression breaking down as well. I could bring inanimate objects to life, but I couldn’t _give them life_. Anything I make come to life will only act as I know them to. All this time, I had been talking to a portrait, never Brian. _Never again._

            The pain I thought I had escaped through painting and talking to the likeness of Brian came back, tenfold. I had repurposed his memory, and for what? _Myself? My own emotions?_ I dragged his memory through a parody of a lens, _just so I could hold onto him another day._ We were both crying then, Brian heaving and gasping sobs.

**_“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make it hurt more! I just wanted to see you again! Talk with you again! Say goodbye one last time!_ **

**_I didn’t mean to hurt you!_ **

**_I’m sorry! I’m so so--”_ **

            And he fell silent, mid-sentence. Our last moments spent with identical expression of despair and whispered—

            _“I’m sorry!”_

\--Ow.—

            Quietly, without a word, Sans brought his hands forward and gently covered the portrait and grabbed the scrapbook, placing it at the top of his own closet through a small portal. Anna seemed so… _dead_. Emotionally and physically drained of all life, she didn’t say a single word as he gently helped her up, her knuckles white as she gripped the frame through soft quilted fabric. He held her tightly to his chest, the quilt and portrait held between them, and softly rocked in the silence. Then, without a word, transported them into his room, where the door was shut and the lights turned off.

            A small click with Sans’ magic and they were illuminated with light, the dark mood lifting only slightly. Gently—god how has she not broken yet?—guiding her to his closet, he cleared the top with magic, leaving just enough room for a portrait covered in quilt. Mechanically, she raised her arms to slide it in, but couldn’t quite reach, so Sans carefully took it from her hands and slid it in. The silence was heavy and Sans was unsure if he should break it, but he needed to know.

            “…Would you like soup in the living room with Papyrus or in here? You’re still not fully recovered, and all… that isn’t going to make you feel any better. Not without soup.” Sans insisted gently. It took a long moment for her to reply.

            “I don’t want to be alone, Sans… not again.” Her expression scrunched up, and he could tell that if she hadn’t of spent the last hour crying, she’d be doing so again. Soothingly, he reached up and cupped her cheeks gently in his hands, peppering small toothy kisses on her face.

            “And you won’t. _I promise_.” He whispered, Determination running through his bones. _Never again_. He lead her silently to the bathroom and carefully wet a wash cloth to clean her face. By the time they entered the living room, her expression wasn’t so dead. Papyrus, ever perceptive as always, served a hot bowl of soup to Anna and put on Mulan. They ate peacefully to the sounds of montage military training, Anna cuddled between him and his brother, neither one of them resisting the impulse to gently run their fingers through her hair or sweep a hand over her back every once in a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go, the feels I've been building up to for TWENTY CHAPTERS. I hope you guys enjoyed this, because it was actually kind of painful to write. Anyway, better days are ahead, but the plot isn't finished with Anna yet!
> 
> I'd say 'I hope you enjoyed the chapter', but that seems really... sadistic to say right now, so I guess i'll just point you guys to this: http:// mamamittens. deviantart. com/art/Sans-and-Anna-608501835?ga_submit_new=10%253A1463024085
> 
> Just remove the spaces. I was bored and I think it's cute as hell. If this doesn't suffice, just search "babybones undertale" in pinterest. You'll see plenty of cute shit there.


	22. Sans is not amused

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One, I just felt like you should know i'm this type of person: https ://www. pinterest. com/pin/422423640030584381/ (remove the spaces)
> 
> And the song referenced at the end is this one: https://www. youtube .com/watch?v=ATbpv4unmTU (Again, remove the spaces)

            My mind seemed foggy with heavy memories and persistent thoughts. It’s like I kept all my emotions and thoughts about Brian in a jar, and telling Sans, or rather, anyone after such a long time broke the glass. They seeped into my core like acid, burning away happiness and the content feeling I should have at how kind and gentle Sans and Papyrus were.

            “Say, Anna… I am told that humans get sick from a lot of things… and Sans was gone the day before.” Papyrus said uncertainly as his hand combed through my hair, “I notice that Sans has a tendency to… dry your hair, since you seem reluctant to properly do so on your own. Was that why you got sick?” Papyrus asked. It was a good question, but I was fairly certain that not completely drying my hair wasn’t responsible for my sudden illness. I didn’t eat anything questionable either, and I don’t think that dying your hair can cause that sort of reaction. In fact, the only weird thing that happened… no, that heavy and cold feeling came _right after that_ …

            “No… I… saw something weird in the break room and fell asleep. When I woke up, my chest felt cold and heavy.” Sans squeezed my hand.

            “What did you see?” I looked over at him.

            “It was… weird. I was back there because a customer got very… upset. I was trying to get my mind off of it, and I touched a piece of paper… it folded itself into a hand.” I lifted up a hand as an example and started to mimic the actions it did, “It did hand signs… but I don’t know what it said. I never learned that. Sign language, that is… I don’t know how it even…” Sans looked… incredibly pale, beads of pink sweat running down his skull, and his eyes were nowhere to be seen.

            “What did it do? W H A T  D I D  H E  D O?” His voice dropped several octaves and I glanced at Papyrus but he seemed at confused as I was. Shakily, I mimicked the exact hand motions.

            “That’s all it did… it even had ink spots on the palm and back of its hand. After that, it sort of just collapsed, and I fell asleep. I can’t remember what I dreamed about, but I know it had something do to with… darkness. A lot of darkness.” Sans shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, “Sans… what’s wrong?”

            “…nothing. It’s nothing. It has to be… hey, you need new clothes, why don’t I call up Undyne and Alphys to take you out for the night? Get to know them. Maybe ask about what Alphys found out?” Sans asked suddenly. I didn’t feel like doing anything right now, let alone meeting new people.

            “Sans… perhaps she should rest for a bit. Today had been rather eventful.” Papyrus suggested gently. Sans blinked slowly and nodded his head.

            “Right… yeah, you’re right. You were sick as hell yesterday, and with everything that happened today, you should nap a little. Do you… do you feel alright?” I looked down at my lap considering my current state. I felt heavy and a growing sense of numbness. A nap did sound like a good idea…

            “I think I should take a nap. Maybe after that I could meet your friends? I-I don’t really know. I just feel a little… empty right now.” Sans nodded his head and helped me get up.

            “Yeah… you wanna nap alone or would you like for me to join you?” Sans asked in trepidation.

            “If you’re not busy or anything, I’d really appreciate it.” I whispered into his shoulder.

            “Go ahead, you lazy bones. I know that is what you really wish for.” Papyrus said, standing up and gently pushing us down the hall, “Perhaps while Anna gets to know Undyne and Dr. Alphys, you can clean your room for a change, Sans. Since Anna will apparently be living in there with you for a while.” Sans turned a pretty shade of red but I was too out of it to appreciate the sight.

            “What the fuck ever, Papyrus! Go make spaghetti or something!” Papyrus softly laughed and walked away. Sans stood awkwardly for a moment before removing his shoes and jacket. I followed suit and we both went under the covers, Sans doing his level best to cradle me. I tucked my head under his chin and wrapped my arms around his back, Sans’ doing the same but slipping his just under my shirt, flush against my lower back. I was about to ask what he was doing when I was suddenly flooded with gentle, soothing emotions. Nothing specific or intense, just small comforting emotions. I was glad I wasn’t alone right now. _Never again_.

\--Dreaming of G.—

            Everything was fuzzy and I felt like I wasn’t quite… right. I was somewhere dark, there was a whimpering sound just beneath me.

            “I-I’m s-sorry D **[incomprehensible noise]**! I-It was an honest mis-miscalculation!” My view seemed to look down as what appeared to be a quivering gelatinous blob. Eyes clouded with pain looked up at me, a fine leather shoe pressed down harder on the mass.

            **“An honest mistake? Well, why didn’t you say so? I mean, it didn’t _quite kill me_ … just… _grazed_ , I suppose you could say. How am I supposed to explain these cracks to those whiny brats, hmm?”** The foot raised off the blob, which seemed to sigh in relief before squealing in pain as the shoe slammed back down. A flash of red light and bones stabbed through the blob. It quivered once, twice, and dissolved into gray dust.

            The scene changed. I felt muted shock as I recognized Sans and Papyrus… as very small skeletons in ratty baby clothes. They both cried loudly on the floor as I, or whoever I was at the moment, paced. I could almost hear the pacing thoughts, calculating complex formulas. Something about energy? And a… Void? Suddenly he, the inner voice was definitely male, snapped and whipped around to the small skeletons.

            **“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”** He yelled, whipping a skeletal arm out, a wave of red magic knocking the small baby bones into the wall. A large crack filled the room and I could feel the person I was looking through freeze, **“FUCK! SHIT! OH DELTA, WHAT HAVE—what have I done?!”** He dashed over to the now crying baby bones. The small Sans had a heavy crack in his right eye and Papyrus had a large fracture on the right side of his skull, cutting down his eye socket. Skeletal hands glowed a soft red that turned green as he cradled the small crying skeletons until Sans eye healed entirely and Papyrus only had a small scar. **“The two monsters I am most responsible for in this damn underground and I scar the both of them… _for life_. That’s it. I don’t care if it obliterates the entire underground, I will give you two _freedom_. One way or another, Papa will make it right.”** I felt the dream crumble into an endless Void.

            A tall figure stood before me, undefinable except for the glowing red eyes staring into my soul…

            “Who are you?”

            **“I finished the Core later that week… Then, a subordinate pushed me into the Core and I was erased from the memories of everyone and cast into this hell hole. Years later, my sons were finally freed… _A N D  I  W A N T  O U T_.”** red lights narrowed out at me, **“One way or another… it is… _unfortunate_ that it will likely end your life to do so, but… that is a sacrifice I am willing to make, Anna. Count the days… _soon I will be free._ ”** The sound of static filled my head with pain, drowning out all thought.

            Until a bright was of cherry red filled me with a sense of safety and peace. I knew I wasn’t likely to remember what I saw when I woke up, but I could have sworn I heard a forlorn sigh.

            **“…I thought I was done hurting my sons…”**

\--Gaster’s kind of an ass, but to be fair, the Void isn’t a very pleasant place to be.—

            Sans carefully watched over Anna, his mind reeling with half-remembered panic. The hand signs struck a chord within him that he couldn’t understand. All his instincts screamed danger and that Anna was deeply in trouble, but there wasn’t anything he could do, despite knowing in every fiber of his being that this mystery foe was responsible for Anna’s sudden decline in health. Every time he tried to remember why those signs distressed him, all he could recall was overwhelming pain in his right eye and him crying out in pain.

            His instincts called out for him to hide her away… sometimes, he wished that monsters didn’t regress so much during the first… _decidedly long amount of time_ underground in darkness. Before monsters grouped together and made magic to light the way, to rebuild their society again. If he didn’t have that, then maybe he could be sleeping in the most ideal situation for cuddling. Instead, he was acting like a fucking nut, staring down at Anna’s sleeping face as it twisted in fear… F E A R?!

            Faster than he thought possible, his hand swept up the bare skin of her back in soothing motions, hands filling with emotional magic to bring her a sense of peace and safety. Until her face eased into gentle sleep, he fought the urge to growl thunderously, as though to scare away whatever fucking demons haunted her. Fuck! It was too soon after he almost lost her for him to be turning into a growling fucking animal rather than an upstanding monster… well, _upstanding for him_.

\--For a small break from plot, here’s a short fun thing to enjoy.—

            About a week into his campaign of gently wooing Anna, a very annoying and peculiar incident happened. So, there he was, walking her to work, arm over her shoulder like a suave fuck, when BAM. Music and people floods the street in the dumbest fucking thing he had ever heard of. A. Flash. Dance. Mob.

_“Feeling so shady lately~!”_

            What must have been over a hundred humans all fucking dancing in sync. Before he could snap at the fucking dumbasses, he felt Anna slip out from his grip and get lost in the large crowd.

            “HOLY SHIT! SANS! HELP! I DON’T WANT TO DANCE!” he could hear her scream in panic. He really didn’t want to be the asshole arrested for beating dancing shits, but he also _really_ wanted to whip out a Gaster Blaster or two, just to see how _fast they’d fucking run_. Shoving pricks out of the way, he made it all the way through the crowd but saw no sign of Anna.

            “Call me, sweet cheeks!” a very reedy voice proclaimed behind him, causing Sans to turn just in time to see a _piece of shit spin Anna around and out of the crowd_. Swiftly, he ran up to her and checked for any injuries.

            “Are you okay!?” Anna giggled dizzily and nodded.

            “Y-Yeah… I think I’m all peopled out for today though… let’s just move on.” Anna said, Sans eyes sharply catching a bit of paper sticking out from her back pocket. He shot a glare at the prick watching from the flash dance mob and pointedly used magic to remove the paper and burn it behind Anna’s back so she wouldn’t see. _Fucking try me, bitch_. He mouthed clearly at the audacious asshole. That had to be one of his top ten worst days ever. At least Anna leaned on him for the next few blocks until she could walk straight. _But he wasn’t sure if the price was worth it_. Especially since some random fucking asshole groped her. _Only he was allowed to do that! Wait, fuck! No, bad Sans. Fucking hell…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter makes it clear that Gaster is A) the reason Anna's sick and B) not afraid to do something bad if it means he goes free again. He's a bit of a dick, but not 100% asshole, you know? Slowly but surely, he'll find a way out again. Even if Anna dies, so let's hope it doesn't go to that, yeah? And I forgot everything else I wanted to say... what a surprise.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter~!


	23. Shopping with the Fish Wife and Lizard Lady

            Waking up a few hours later, I felt significantly better. Not… ideal, but better. I didn’t have consuming numbness anymore, at least. Like every other time I’ve slept with Sans ( _Fucking hell that sounds wrong_ ), I ended up tucked against him… it was nice. I always felt rather safe like this. But, like before, I couldn’t linger. I _really_ needed to use the bathroom. I let go of the front of his shirt and slipped my arms around him to rub his back gently, hoping to ease him awake. He made this odd snuffling sound and clutched me closer, his face nuzzling into my neck and his soft breaths tickling me.

            I didn’t quite manage to muffle the snort of laughter, causing Sans to jerk awake.

            “WHa-zat?!” he asked huskily, his head twisted to look around his darkened room. When he didn’t find anything he tried to lay back down like before but I put a hand up to stop him.

            “Noooo! Sans, I gotta go!” He closed one eye as he leaned against my open palm, his smile crooked and smashed.

            “But sweetheart~!”

            “Nooo! Release me, demon!” I declared with a giggle, trying to squirm out of his grasp. His eye sockets narrowed at me as his grin sharpened, his gold tooth glinting in the light. His hands moved slightly and I caught there intended purpose but wasn’t able to move in time. The tips of his fingers practically danced against my sides, my laughter filling the room. We rolled over until I was trapped beneath him.

            “Mwahahahaha! _You cannot escape me!_ ” Sans darkly intoned above my desperate laughter. Suddenly, the door slammed open.

            “I’ll save you from the insufferable dork, human!” I only had enough time to register dark blue scales—a fish lady, I think?—before I was slipped out from underneath Sans and lifted into the beefiest, and scaled, arms I had ever encountered. Sans blinked up in confusion as the lady turned on her heel and marched out of the room. Her arms held me tightly against her chest—yep, definitely a lady. “Fuhahahaha!” She stomped into the living room and dumped me on the couch next to what appeared to be a yellow lizard with glasses. When the room stopped spinning, I looked up at the fish lady and actually took in her appearance.

            She was really tall, probably just a little taller than Papyrus, actually. She was also strangely beautiful, with her dark blue scaly skin and yellow and red eyes. Her hair was incredibly red and pulled into a tight bun, a long piece of bang covering her left eye. Her smile was sharp and very… toothy. She wore a black tank top with a white fish skeleton across the front and black jeans tucked into steel toed boots, also colored entirely black.

            “Uhm… hello? My… uh, hero, I guess?” I said in confusion. Was she Dr. Alphys or Undyne? She threw back her head and laughed.

            “Fwa-hahahahaha! You’re welcome, punk! I had to intervene, you see, or I was going to die from the ridiculous amount of fluff you and bone boy had going on! Name’s Undyne, previous captain of the Royal Guard.” She said, holding out a hand for me to shake, which I did. Only to regret, since she had an insanely strong grip.

            “Anna… Hey, didn’t you guys ask for a commission a few weeks back? Corpse Party?” I looked between the two in recognition.

            “Yep, that’d be me and my girl. It was a good picture. Worth every buck.” Undyne said pertly.

            “I-I-It was very good.” the yellow lizard, which I now assumed to be Dr. Alphys, said in a reedy voice. When Undyne finally released my hand, I offered to shake with Dr. Alphys.

            “Hello, I assume you’re Dr. Alphys? Sans told me he called you about… uhm… yeah, thanks for that.” Dr. Alphys pushed her glasses up her snout and shook my hand.

            “Yes, Papyrus told me about your _background_ and suggested we h-hang out a bit. See if you’re comfortable with me disclosing the details to my wife. As well as seeing about getting you a new wardrobe.” Something glinted in her eyes and I suddenly felt exceedingly nervous.

            “Y-Yeah… it would be a bit awkward to replace my clothes with Papyrus or Sans, and they don’t want me to wonder around alone for the time being… but, uh… I kind of can’t afford much, so it probably won’t be a long trip—“

            “No need to worry, sweetheart. Trip’s on me… since it is sort of my fault.” I jerked my head around to Sans, who leaned against the wall casually, “Oh, and Undyne? Next time, I ‘ D  L I K E  I T  I F  Y O U  K N O C K E D…” Sans said with a heavy tone that I could feel all the way over here.

            “Sans, you really shouldn’t! Not like you got me a subscription to Burglars R Us or anything…” I said petulantly. I still wasn’t sure how I felt about him, especially since that heavy can of worms burst open in my old apartment. Sans grinned easily.

            “Nope. One full wardrobe. No take backs.” Sans said, flicking what appeared to be a credit card at Undyne. I glared at him from over the couch, which he returned in amusement. Undyne whistled in appreciation.

            “Any requests, bone head?” I shifted my glare to Undyne, which she completely brushed off, barely noting in the corner of my eye that Sans seemed to glow like a Christmas light.

            “M-Make sure she has fun. Now get the fuck out of here, you demented fish wife!” Sans choked out, much to the amusement of Dr. Alphys and Undyne. Undyne started to tug me off the couch, but I resisted.

            “Wait, I need to pee! Give me five! Minutes, that is!” I declared before tearing down the hallway to the bathroom, Undyne’s booming laughter following me. Not to mention I probably needed to brush my teeth.

            After that short, but very necessary bathroom stop, I went back out of the bathroom and into the living room.

            “—a little red number, bet you’d fucking love that, wouldn’t you, _bone head?_ ” Undyne chortled.

            “What red number? You plan on making Sans broke, Undyne? That isn’t nice…” I spoke up, walking into the room and stopping, feeling as though I walked in the middle of something incredibly fishy. Pun not intended. Sans looked like a frozen cherry popsicle, Dr. Alphys appeared to be both blushing furiously and grinning like a loon, and Undyne just looked entirely too pleased with herself. I stopped next to Sans and gave him a quick hug, his arms almost mechanically wrapping around me.

            “D-Don’t worry ‘bout it, sweetheart. Call me if anything happens. Have fun.” He seemed a little… strained, but I pulled back and turned towards Undyne and Dr. Alphys.

            “Alright, I’m ready to go.” I said, receiving a mixed look of amusement and disbelief from both female monsters.

            “… are you seriously wearing two jackets, punk?!” Undyne exclaims with a bark of laughter. I huffed, my face a little red.

            “…shut up, fish wife.” I muttered mutinously, causing Sans to laugh, as well as Dr. Alphys. Undyne… just looked like she’d been challenged.

            “That’s it! I’M BUYING YOU THE SEXIEST LINGERIE THE STORE HAS, YOU PUNK!” Undyne declared heatedly, grabbed both Dr. Alphy’s hand and mine before charging out of the door.

            “Oh, HELL NO!” I shouted as she pulled us out into the street, the implication of her threat finally hitting me. Undyne just laughed victoriously.

\--So tempted for lingerie to consist mainly of toe socks, since apparently that’s scandalous for monsters.—

            It was… interesting, to say the least. Shopping in a mall for clothes with an energetic and buff fish monster and her shyer but somehow insidious lizard lady—that is. While Undyne would occasionally try and foist inappropriately sexy clothes my way, Dr. Alphys would point out clothes I would actually wear, but were cuter than I normally get. Like oversized sweaters that fall off of one shoulder. The way they both grinned at an ombre sweater from pink to red, you’d think I had been wearing a tight bustier with Daisy Duke shorts. During all this, we talked.

            “So, did you really meet Sans while he was intimidating a human for money?”

            “Yep. Walked away as fast as possible, too. Ended up running into him a few more times until we became friends.” Dr. Alphys cooed over a cute kitty themed sweater with a hood that had little triangular ears at the top in black and white, tossing it at me to try on next.

            “Did you fall _madly in love at first sight?_ ” I nearly banged my head against the wall of the dressing room at that.

            “What?! No! He looked shady as hell! I had escape on my brain, not romance, you goofy tuna fish!” I called out, finding that the kitty sweater was baggy enough that I felt safe but would likely need a shirt under it. Undyne laughed a little.

            “So, do you like him?”

            “Who? Sans? Course I do. Why else would I stay at his house rather than squeezing in at a friend’s place?”

            “Pft! Not like that. I already knew that you liked him as a friend. I meant… you know, _romantically_.” I felt a confusing wave of emotions flood me. I wasn’t very… social. It’s not like I had a wide array of experience in this field. I stepped out of the dressing room to let them judge the article of clothing themselves. Dr. Alphys cooed a little and snorted happily, muttering something about the perfect _pet play?!_ What even!?

            “I’m… not sure. I know I like him… possibly as more than a friend, but I-I’m not really… uhm… experienced? Experienced in this sort of thing. And besides, I couldn’t confess right now, even if I _knew 100 percent that I loved him like that_.” I said, shaking my head and heading back into the dressing room, but was stopped by a firm hand on my shoulder.

            “What’ya mean? Is it because he’s… a monster?” I shook my head at the slightly angry question.

            “No. It’s because of all that’s going on right now. If I did just pop up and confess, he’d probably feel pressured to accept, even if he doesn’t feel for me that way. It just… wouldn’t be fair. For either of us. Not after all he’s done for me.” I stated simply. Dr. Alphys nodded her head.

            “Should have known that you’d say something like that, with a Soul like yours.” she said. I looked at her in confusion but brushed it off, heading back into the dressing room.

            “Oh! Speaking of private things, next up: Sexy Lingerie!” I groaned and smacked my head against the wall for real this time. What fresh hell is this?! Why would I even need that?! Briefly, I imagined what I’d buy if given the choice, and was confused as to why my mind insisted it be red, if anything. I didn’t even like red that much…

_But Sans did…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some lighter stuff, as a break from heavy character development, as well as some introspective thinking on Anna's part. To be honest, she's not quite ready to accept romantic feelings, but she's getting there. Should I tag this as slow burn or not? Probably courtship, at the very least. Oh, and in case you haven't quite read my message yet, Ryuuze, I did extend the offer to a written prompt as well. So, it doesn't have to be a picture (I get exceedingly snappy at my room mate when I draw, and you now know what my art looks like, so feel free to back out on that request for Papyrus cooking soup, no judgment). And I still need you to cash in writeswithfeatherquills, on that prompt or picture thing. It's still a thing you can do.
> 
> Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I would have finished sooner, but I got distracted by Undertale shimejis. They're like digital bitties for your desktop and they're so fucking cute. Underswap Sans can fucking jump, though. Nearly shit myself. Like, he literally leapt up from the bottom of my screen to grab my cursor all the way at the top. Fun as hell, though.


	24. Of Bra Size, Garter Socks, and Strip Poker (more tame than it sounds, I swear)

            Walking into a lingerie store with a fish wife and a lizard lady was not something I ever saw myself doing. I think the most hilarious part had to be their odd fascination with the lacy garter socks. I mean, sure, they embarrassed the hell out of me by making sure I had plenty of racy matching bras and underwear sets, but the tour de force for these guys had to be the garter socks. Did I mention damn near everything they chose was either nude, red, or straight up white? Yeah, they refused to even consider any other color but those three. Something about it not being ‘me’. Whatever the hell that means.

            “Come on, we have to make sure you look good in it!”

            “Yeah!” Dr. Alphys added in a slightly lower tone of voice, but not any less enthused.

            “No. Hell. No. Underwear was not meant to be paraded around in. It’s made to be worn. _Under_ clothing.” I hissed as I tossed an ill-fitting bra at them from behind the changing room door.

            “Aw, come on! What was wrong with this one? It’s cute!” Undyne asked petulantly.

            “The problem, fish stick, is that it doesn’t fit.”

            “Oh, and how does it not fit?” Dr. Alphys asked in a very… suspicious tone of voice.

            “Well, it’s the wrong size.”

            “What’s your size then, dork?” Undyne asked nosily.

            “I _can_ shop for bras on my own!”

            The problem with bras, is that it’s not like they can take my shirt size and make a guess, especially since I like my shirts a little baggy. I didn’t need to be consulted for underwear, since the size was pretty much able to be determined by pant size. But, as any lady knows, there are two measurements for bras. Cup, which is the actual physical mass of the boob (more or less), and band, which is basically a measurement of torso just beneath said boobs. In inches or centimeters.

            “Well, maybe next time, but not today, punk! Now, give me the numbers before I go in there with measuring tape myself!” I put my hands over my face and let out a small whine of embarrassment.

            “I swear on everything holy and demonic, if you tell anyone I will deep fry you! _Both of you!_ ” I declared viciously, peaking out at the both of them so they’d know I was serious. They both grinned evilly as how red my face was. I waved my hand for Dr. Alphys to come closer so I could whisper it to her. She practically danced over to me, rubbing her hands together in triumph.

            “What is it, Anna?” She cooed sweetly. I glared at her before leaning over and whispering my proper size.

            “34D, now shoo! Shoo you villainous fiend!” I whispered harshly at her. She cackled and waddled over to Undyne, whispering the proper size in her ear before the both of them ran off to find what would likely be scandalous attire. Any time they tried to throw in something more lace than support, I’d toss it back at them immediately. Considering the different brands, the sizes weren’t that different, thankfully. So, while I did wish for lighting to strike me down, it didn’t last as near as long as it could have.

            “Alright, punk, we’re through! Let’s check out and get you back to the bone heads before they panic and think you’re dead!” Undyne said haughtily as she dumped a very sizable pile of undergarments onto the counter where a very bored but morbidly curious teenage girl was behind the register. She didn’t have to ask who they were for, since Dr. Alphys and Undyne were anything but subtle, but she probably didn’t get many monster customers in the first place. Thankfully, considering the various sales going on today, I wasn’t _too_ concerned with breaking Sans’ bank.

\--You know it had to be for ‘research’.—

            Undyne was reasonably certain she was the best wing-woman of all time, setting up Anna with a plethora of sexy clothing options, and was a little miffed when she didn’t think they were agreeable choices. But, when her other half suggested more conservative, but incredibly cute clothing choices, she had to admit that it would likely drive Sans batty in its own way. After viewing hundreds of different animes, Undyne should have known immediately what type of character Anna was. It was in the way she held herself, the way she talked, and even in the ridiculous two layers of jackets that she insisted on wearing.

            Sans had fallen for a clueless/innocent uke hybrid. It was fucking hysterical. Though, she was surprised when Anna actually seemed aware of her own emotions for Sans, though not very clearly, so it must have been a recent thing. That didn’t stop Alphys and her from putting as much red clothing as possible into Anna’s wardrobe. She was going down with this ship. _Especially_ after Anna’s sweet concern for Sans’ own feelings. Did that stop her from wanting to laugh at ‘feel pressured to accept’? Hell no. If Anna really did like Sans, there would be _nothing_ that could stop bone boy from making it official. Dumbass didn’t _need_ any pressure for that. Though, it did beg the question of _how in the hell_ has Sans _not_ made it clear he wanted that? Was Sans learning _subtlety_ at the worse possible time?!

            Regardless, there _were_ other things to be concerned about. Like the odd secret her baby was keeping from her about Anna. She wasn’t stupid, she _knew_ there was something going on. _She could sense it_.

\--She knows what’s up.—

            The walk back was filled with little jabs at my embarrassment and the new wardrobe I now had. At least we didn’t have to carry the bags since Dr. Alphys had a phone that could _apparently_ break the laws of physics.

            “Bet Sans will really like that red garter sock set we threw in there while you weren’t looking.” Undyne chortled. I felt like choking. I _needed_ to change the subject.

            “Say, Dr. Alphys?”

            “Just call me Alphys, Anna. There’s no need for formalities.” Alphys interjected. I nodded but quickly got back to my point before Undyne could say anything more on the subject of _red_ or _socks_.

            “Alphys, then. Earlier, you said ‘a soul like yours’… the way you said it seemed odd. I don’t think you meant it the way people usually do. Southerners, typically.” I said lightly. She nodded.

            “That’s because I didn’t mean it in the way humans usually do. Souls are real, you know. Real in the sense that they can be defined and even have a particular shape and color.” I made a little noise of understanding.

            “Then… how do you…?” I wasn’t sure what to ask after that. How do you what? See them? Measure them? “Is it like, ‘yours weighs two and a half soul cups, which isn’t healthy. Cut back on the blues and jazz music, sir.’” I mimicked as though I was a professional doctor. They both laughed a little, shaking their heads.

            “N-No! You can’t physically _weigh_ a Soul, Anna!” Alphys said, her voice changing into a more professional one, “Every Soul has the same basic shape. The ‘heart’ motif is actually the shape of the Soul. Monsters have white Souls that are upside down (in relation to the heart motif), for various reasons, but human Souls have a variety of colors and are right side up. Depending on your basic personality, as a Soul is the culmination of your being, the color is different. Some people even have more than one color, though usually those people have been through things or are rather old.” Alphys finished. Undyne looked pleased as punch and kissed Alphys’ cheek soundly, turning the yellow scales a nice gradient of red and orange.

            “I love it when you talk nerdy, babe~!” Undyne said huskily. I glanced to the side awkwardly, away from the affectionate couple.

            “A-Anyway, when I checked up on your condition, I did a very basic scan of your Soul. You have a good Soul, Anna. I’d say more, but Souls are culturally considered a private thing. Like Soul Bonds and Empathetic Touch.”

            “Empathetic Touch?” I murmured, before my mind connected the dots, “Oh, that thing Sans does where he glows a bit! Got it.” They both looked at me in confusion.

            “I thought Papyrus was kidding! FWA-HAH!” Undyne started to laugh harder, she seemed to have a hard time stopping. Alphys just got this look in her eye like all her secret plans were coming together.

\--And since it’s not totally out there, here’s the prompt request for writeswithfeatherquills.—

            Alphys and Undyne stayed for a while longer after joining us for dinner, which was pasta of course, deciding that the perfect thing to finish off the day was a card game of strip poker (apparently, normal card games aren’t risky enough for Undyne). I had heard of it before, I knew the basic rules, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t take advantage of being allowed to wear however many layers I want. It had to be clothes that I just got though, so I couldn’t wear my trusty jackets. Shots were pulled out and everyone but me drank a shot for every round.

            “Come on, it’s no fun if you’re not drunk too!” I shook my head.

            “No, I’ve never played, and that look you keep giving me isn’t very reassuring. I _need_ my wits about me for this, clearly.” Sans just looked like he was about to pass out, his face was so red. I guess he can’t handle alcohol very well.

            As it turns out, I didn’t need to worry. The only time I had to remove a layer was when I decided it was a little too hot and lost a round on purpose. Apparently, my poker face game is too strong for them.

            “H-How _HIcK_ do… do you do?! That?!” Undyne asked, having already removed her jacket, shirt, shoes, socks (which got a wolf whistle from a very tipsy Alphys), and even her pants. I shrugged, trying not to look up. Papyrus was doing pretty good, having only removed his shoes and socks so far, but Sans had chosen to remove his jacket and shirt rather than his foot wear like everyone else. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t morbidly fascinating to see his bare rib cage for all of five seconds.

            “NO! I re-refuse t-t-to ac..accept this! You!” Undyne declared drunkenly, pointing a finger at me, “Are a _cheater_! Tell me your secrets!” she demanded, pounding her fist on the table angrily. I couldn’t help the wild laughter that spilled out.

            “You ask in vain, Undyne! Hahaha! For it is not through treachery that I win, but _skill_!” Undyne seemed about five seconds away from impaling me.

            “No! Y-You’re a _cheater_! Be gone, cheating human!” Undyne boomed out. Alphys took the chance to glance at Undyne’s cards and suggested something lightly to distract the enraged fish.

            “E-Either she… stat—start drinking, or… or she tell us a secret!” Undyne ran with it.

            “YEAH! Drink or con-con-confess, you cheater!” I felt a little conflicted. I didn’t really _want_ to drink anything. I wasn’t sure what kind of a drunk I was, and I was getting along with all them so far. That, and at least someone needs to be hangover free in the morning. But then again…

            “You have a deal. I’d like to go to bed, sober, and you want to know something that I haven’t told you before. So, here it is, Undyne. The grand secret that you might not remember in the morning—“ Sans looked away from his cards blearily,

            “S-Sweetheart, ya… ya don’t have ta—“

            “Nah, it’s cool, Sans. The whole point of today was getting to know them so I’d feel comfortable with them knowing about it. Undyne!” I looked away from the oddly luminescent ribcage of Sans and looked Undyne dead in the eye, “I have magic. Good night~!” I declared, laying down my cards and prancing off to the bathroom to change and go to bed.

            “WHAT?! Ugh… I-I don’t… don’t feel good. Imma sit down now…” Undyne muttered under her breath so that I could barely hear her, but she was naturally pretty loud. I was pretty quick to change into nice and comfortable flannel pajamas and going to bed. I didn’t not want to be there if Undyne started throwing up. I fell asleep to cries of foul play and laughter.

            Sometime later, I briefly woke up to Sans joining me, seemingly fresh from the shower as he giggled lightly and tucked his head against my chest, his arms wrapping around my waist. It was nice, but distantly, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d really be okay with this if I only thought of him as a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there that is. I was a little curious as to what card game it should be, but then I realized that Undyne would never miss out on the opportunity to do strip poker. I wasn't sure what kind of drunk Anna should be (though being able to drink like a fish would be hilarious), so I opted out of that. Almost had Anna cheat my making the cards come alive and subtly change patterns on the back depending on the card, but decided natural card shark was better.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter~!


	25. You Can't Catch Me! (But I Can...)

            Waking up was an… experience.

            “ANNA! HOLY FUCK!” The door was kicked open, jolting both Sans and I out of sleep. I only had time to register that it was Undyne before the room filled with a red glow and she was pushed back out, the door slamming shut. Sans pulled me back down against his chest.

            “Wha…What time is it?” I muttered sleepily against Sans’ sternum. Sans shifted slightly before laying back down.

            “Almost six. A.M. Go back to sleep, sweetheart.” I murmured plaintively and borrowed into his arms a little more. Sans chuckled sleepily and rubbed his phalanges against my scalp. I fell back asleep soon after.

            What I could only assume to be a few hours later, I woke up after a gentle knocking against the door. Sans growled grumpily but answered anyway.

            “What?” his arms twitched when Undyne’s voice filtered through the door.

            “It’s me… knocking. Politely. Can I get an explanation for last night yet?”

            “It’s called skill, Undyne. I don’t cheat.” I said, looking blearily at the crack of light under the door where I could see Undyne’s feet.

            “NOT—Not, about that, you punk! What you said about having magic! Tell me! Teeelllll mmmmmeeeeeee~!” Undyne pleaded through the door, “I even waited a full five hours to let you guys sleep in! Have _Mercy_ ~!” she sounded really weird begging like that. Sans let out a sigh and released me.

            “Might as well go ahead and tell her. I’ll be out in a bit, sweetheart.” I huffed and crawled out of bed, searching the new bags for something appropriate to wear after I take a shower. Deciding on the cute black and white cat cosplay sweater and baggy black pants I went out into the hallway where Undyne was impatiently waiting.

            “Finally! Are you going to tell me yet?!” Undyne demanded. I shook my head.

            “Nope. Shower first. Then I’ll give you a demonstration.” Undyne let out a deep mournful groan of denial.

            “Ugggghhhhhhh!” I closed the bathroom door and tried my level best to hurry. I didn’t want to chance Undyne finally losing her patience and just knocking down the door. I have to admit though, fifteen minutes is probably the fastest I’ve ever showered. By the time I exited the bathroom, my hair still rather damp, Sans had gotten up and was nursing a cup of coffee. Upon spotting me as I entered the living room, he sighed in amused resignation and patted his lap. On the table in front of him was a pile of my origami paper, so I just sat in his lap and let him do the weird magic thing with his hands to dry my hair. Distantly, I registered a shrill cry as Sans rubbed my hair dry between his phalanges.

            “My magic is just… bringing things to life, sort of. Like this.” I said as I folded a lime green sheet of paper into a rudimentary dragon, which flew from my hand at the first opportunity and nestled on Sans’ head. Sans paused only briefly before continuing his ministrations.

            “That’s wicked, punk! What else can you do?!” Alphys sat down next to Undyne and looked at the dragon on Sans’ head in curiosity.

            “Well, I’m… not very good at explaining this, but I can bring things to life and they’re only restricted by their medium, material, and my personal knowledge of them. And there also seems to be an emotional connection, as far as I’ve been able to observe.” I said as I folded a koi fish and watched it swim through the air.

            “I gathered as much from my examination. Your ability is categorized as Animus and you have a permanent status effect of Shared Empathy, which means there is an emotional connection between your creations and yourself. Historically speaking, the Animus ability is quite rare and tends to be limited depending on the user. I once read about a human mage with an Animus ability that was only able to animate shadows, and as such, they had very little physical effect on the world around them. He used it for spy work, mostly. I imagine that the heaviest limitation is your own logic, which, as a human, is difficult to work past.” Briefly, my mind went to the sharp pain I experienced while I was sick.

            “So, does that mean that if they get destroyed, I feel it too?” Alphys nodded and shook her head a little.

            “Both yes and no, if you are referring to the pain Sans described to me while you were sick. The connection is only active while the magic is, so your creations were likely animated when the intruders came into your apartment and destroyed them. Since you were in a vulnerable state already, I’d imagine that you were particularly sensitive to pain, on top of experiencing the sensation for the first time.” I nodded my head, Sans’ removing his hands now that my hair was totally dry, and folded up a fox.

            “Is it only what you’ve made?” Undyne asked. I shook my head.

            “No, but it doesn’t make any difference if it’s an inanimate object being portrayed. Like, if I tried to bring this table to life, it wouldn’t do anything. You know, because it’s a table.” I added awkwardly. Both Undyne and Alphys nodded.

            “Cool…” Undyne said, her curiosity finally sated as she leaned back against the couch, “I still want to see you drunk as hell, though.” I snorted and shook my head, leaning back against Sans.

            “Anna, I would like to try something!” Papyrus declared from the kitchen. I looked over and nodded curiously.

            “What is it?” Papyrus shifted awkwardly in his white apron with a broken heart.

            “I would like to see if you can animate food… ginger bread cookies, to be precise.” Papyrus added. My eyes went wide. How did I never think of this before?!

            “Oh hell yeah! Let’s do it! Are they already made or did you want to make them together?” I asked excitedly. Papyrus’ skull glowed a soft orange color.

            “I was hoping we could do so together… as a bonding activity.” I was nearly vibrating with excitement, Sans finally catching on and releasing me so I could dash into the kitchen.

            “Yes! Absolutely! I haven’t done this in… god, how long has it been?!” I asked rhetorically as I washed my hands and pushed up my sleeves, “Must be at least a decade. Christmas time, for sure. Aw man, and Brian found out he was allergic to ginger and…” I trailed off, a wave of depression coming over me. Yeah… I really miss him… My spiraling thoughts were interrupted when Papyrus kneeled down a little and gave me a hug. I returned it tightly for several moments before patting his back to signal he could let go. I really needed to stop before I burst into tears or something.

            “Alright, let’s make some kick ass ginger bread cookies! They’re the little goofy shaped humans that you eat right? HELL YEAH!” Undyne shouted before catching herself and glancing apologetically at Sans.

            The next half hour was _insane_. I swear, Undyne almost blew up the stove. And she was just supposed to be _mixing_! How the hell does that even happen?! By the time we finished, the kitchen was an absolute mess, but it smelled amazing. Cleaning was even chaotic as hell, since Undyne seemed convinced that she needed to scrub the counters hard to get rid of dry _flour_ of all things. It took so long just making sure Undyne didn’t damage the kitchen that by the time we were almost finished cleaning, the cookies actually were finished.

            Carefully, Papyrus put on oven mitts over his red elbow length gloves (have I ever seen him without those?!) and placed the tray on top of the stove to cool, since it had already been cleaned. The next fifteen minutes were spent making sure Sans, Alphys, and Undyne didn’t try and snag a cookie and actually cleaned. Decorating proved to be a whole other beast. Undyne tried to illustrate dying ginger bread cookies but settled for pissed of ginger ‘oh snap’ warriors. Alphys did a few stereotypical Frankensteins in eerie detail. Sans and Papyrus decorated theirs like skeletons, which was kind of adorable. I just went for basic smiley faces and clothes.

            Before the grand experiment, I took a moment to appreciate the scene before me. The four monsters squabbling over who’s cookies were the best with their faces covered in flour (even the skeleton’s though it was harder to tell) and batter. Sans glanced at me from the corner of his eye socket, his smile softening as he took my hand. At that moment, with faded memories of ginger allergies and hospital visits, I knew that I had to move on. I couldn’t hold on anymore to my brother. Even if my feelings for Sans were platonic, it wouldn’t be fair to hold him up against the dead and gone. But that was for another time. Right now, we need to do _science_.

            I reached over to a beefy looking ginger bread man and lightly tapped it, willing it to come to life. I was ecstatic when it seemed to shake and sit up. The beady eyes of icing squished into a parody of a blink as the ginger bread man took in his surroundings. Before we could even begin to celebrate, the little cookie let out a war cry and began making a break for the kitchen doorway. Apparently, he had no intention of being eaten today. Before he could even jump off the stove, Papyrus plucked him up and soundly bit off the cookie legs, the icing mouth opening into a silent scream before my horrified eyes.

            “There shall be no escaping today, cookie warrior!” Papyrus declared before gobbling the cookie whole. I only felt a slight pin prick, thankfully. Everyone fucking laughed at my face as Sans snorted, even as his arms wrapped around me in comforting motions. _Monsters are edgy fucking bastards!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that horrifying bit is brought to you in part by my roommate who asked if food was a thing. So, naturally, this happens. Oh, and more angst on the way, and will Anna ever finally figure out if she loves Sans platonically or romantically?
> 
> Oh, and that request for Papyrus cooking is here: http://mamamittens. deviantart. com/art/Papyrus-Chicken-Noodle-Soup-for-the-Soul-609235605?ga_submit_new=10%253A1463350281
> 
> Hope you like my "Meh" artistic skills.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter~!


	26. Of Firm Decisions

            After that… horrific and morbidly amusing moment, I decided that it was probably a good thing I never got into food art. Giving something life only to literally consume it seems… off, somehow. Though, if I ever started doing it, I’d know that I’d fallen off the deep end. Like, really far off the deep end. Anyway, the others seemed to have fun making the cookies, even if they laughed at my refusal to try again after Papyrus soundly devoured the first one.

            So, with a Tupperware container of cookies and a few more embarrassing jabs, Alphys and Undyne left. I looked in consideration at my feet. There was something I needed to do, but when? Pulling out my phone, looking at the calendar I noted it was Thursday. I had missed a few classes and some work. Oh boy… I hope Vicky wasn’t worried. I sent her a quick text and was surprised when she replied so quickly.

**[Shit, pixie! I was pretty worried there, but don’t worry. I had you covered. That ass came back in with flowers, hoping to apologize. Said he’d come back tonight to see if you’d be here. You coming in?]**

**[Yeah, would you like me to come in early, make up for lost time?]**

**[Nah, no need for that. Just don’t be late! And have your bone boy text me next time you’re sick!]**

            Oh… _Right_ … she didn’t know the rest of what happened… well, I think I’ll just wait and tell her when I get to work. It was currently one, so I had a few hours until work. I looked up and nearly jumped, Sans standing in front of me with a concerned expression.

            “Everything alright, sweetheart?” I let out a huff of air.

            “Jeez, Sans! You scared the shit out of me!” I shook my head in amusement, “But yeah, everything’s fine. That very… _vocal_ customer told Vicky he’d be back to apologize to me tonight. How sweet.” I said, trailing off distantly. Usually, pissy customers forget about their behavior after they leave the store.

            “Ya sure you’re up to it? Work, that is? You don’t feel… woozy or anything?” I shook my head.

            “No, I’m fine… but uh, Sans… I was wondering if you knew anywhere I could go to… uhm… well, I think it’s time.” Sans looked confused.

            “Time for what, sweetheart?” I looked down at my hands, wringing them furiously.

            “For me to… _really_ let go. Of Brian… that painting… it isn’t… it doesn’t…” I let out an agitated sigh, “All it ever does is remind me of _bad_ things. How I fucked up. How much it hurt… still hurts… I held onto it for so long and Brian… I’d like to think he wouldn’t have wanted that. I mean, it’s not the _only_ thing I have to remind me of him. I still have my memories… photos… that painting just isn’t… I want to burn it. Put the last bit of pain to rest.” I rambled on, feeling more ridiculous as I continued. I was about to continue when I felt Sans’ hands cup my face to look up at him.

            “I think I know a place… when do you want to do it?” He asked softly. I gave him a wobbly, teary eyed smile.

            “Well, classes end really soon, then we have graduation at the end of May. I think I’d like to do it… maybe this Sunday. Get it over with?” he gently pressed his teeth to my forehead and pulled back.

            “As long as you’re ready. Say, don’t you have some sort of project for your class? That’s what most art students worry about, right?” I giggled a little.

            “Yeah, but I made sure it was okay to do a digital art piece. I can sit down and finish it in a few hours or work on it for a bit at a time, like most people do. What?! It’s exhausting to stare at a screen and create minute little details!” I said at his amused expression.

            “Alright, so… what do you want to do until work?” I looked at the table with papers on it, “I’m not sure I like that Determined look in your eye.”

            “I want to perfect my dragon making skills.” I declared, “Prepare for it to look like a Dreamworks movie in this bitch!” I laughed, making my way to the table to begin working, Sans looking a little anxious and nervous.

\--Yaassss.—

            By the time it was almost time to go to work, Sans was absolutely covered in tiny, angry dragons of all patterns and colors. I needed to get more origami paper. Papyrus was really amused at the situation, but Sans was just trying to figure out how to free himself of the dragon hoard. Every time he moved enough to disturb them, they’d all fly away and swarm back in mostly the same position. Good news was that my paper dragon was much more sophisticated looking. Bad news…. Okay, no, that’s still good news. As of today, there are very few things that make me laugh as hard as a the face Sans makes when trying to escape the tyranny of paper dragon hoards.

            “Alright, this was funny for all of five seconds, but you need to go to work. Make them… Uh… stop? Not be alive?—whoa, that sounded dark—But uh… yeah. Whatever frees me. Do it. Please.” Sans asked, his eye lights barely visible between particularly eager dragons that covered his face. I laughed as I mentally reached for the connection that gave the hoard life, their forms going still and clattering around Sans, who breathed out a sigh of relief.

            “Okay, I’m going to clean up a bit, and then we’ll go.” I needed to change tops since the one I’m wearing currently had a fair amount of batter and flour over the front. Looking through the bags, I found another sweater that was formal enough for work. The top was made to appear as though it was both a white button up shirt and a soft red sweater, when it really only had the collar, bottom hem, and wrist area of a button up shirt. It was also really comfortable to wear.

            When I went back into the living room, all the paper dragons were placed on the table and Sans was typing away at his phone for something. He put it away and smiled cheerfully, offering his arm to escort me to work.

            “Have a good day at work, Anna!” Papyrus called out from the kitchen, a paper sack of what smelled like the ginger bread cookies in his hand, which he then gave to me.

            “Thanks Papyrus. See you later tonight.” and we were off, Sans arm around my shoulder like usual as we walked down the slightly shady streets. We didn’t talk, there wasn’t any real need to, so we just took in the calm quiet of… the… oddly abandoned streets? I wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but with Sans with me, I felt safe enough to relax a bit. “It’s… oddly quiet out right now. Is there an event going on?” Sans looked a little sheepish.

            “Well… I may have made some rounds last night while I was drunk. So, long story short, it will probably be a little quiet for the next few days.” His cheek bones looked a little red and I snorted a bit.

            “Jeez, Sans, what did you _do_? I mean, you didn’t get hurt, did you?” he looked a little surprised at that.

            “No! I mean, I _was_ pretty drunk, but even then I was a bit above most of their level. I trained with Undyne and Papyrus, remember? They don’t coddle you when you’re training. Not even a little.” I snorted a bit.

            “Yeah… I guess. I mean, Undyne doesn’t exactly seem the type to just… ease up. Very all or nothing with her.” I said lightly as we turned the corner to Hobby Lobby where Vicky was waiting. She looked relieved to see me.

            “Pixie! Holy shit, thank goodness you’re here. That guy’s been here for a few hours now, just pacing to himself. Seems pretty sorry. Oh, hey bone boy.” Vicky said casually. I turned slightly to give Sans a hug before slipping away.

            “I guess I better go and find him then, huh?” I said, “See you in a few hours, Sans!” I waved goodbye and went into the store to find the apparently very apologetic guy that made my day really shitty before.

            Funnily enough, he was in the sketch aisle, where we kept most of the pencils and charcoals. He looked up suddenly, jerking the bouquet of flowers slightly in his surprise.

            “Oh, it’s you! I-I’m here to apologize… for the other day…and… yeah. I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve my attitude, you only tried to help, and I just… _exploded_ at you.” he offered the nice bouquet of flowers, mostly consisting of white tulips and hyacinth.

            “I-I understand it was a bit of a… s-stressful time. But thanks. For both… uh… the f-flowers and apology.” I took the flowers and nervously looked to the side, “D-Did you… need something else?” I hope he didn’t need any more pencils… I wasn’t sure I could handle him shouting at me again.

            “Y-You look nice! I-I mean, well, you do look nice, but I was wondering if… after work, you’d like to catch dinner somewhere?” I paused, confusion filling my thoughts. What the hell? Did he feel that bad?

            “Look, uhm…”

            “Norman. My… my name is Norman. Nice to meet you. Officially.” I nodded, shaking his hand awkwardly.

            “Uhm, Norman, nice to meet you too. I’m Anna, but I really can’t. Have dinner, that is. My… roommate is walking me back home after work.” His eyes lit up a little.

            “I’m sure they’d understand if you called or texted…?” I shook my head.

            “No, a lot of stuff has happened recently. I doubt Sans or Papyrus would be alright with me ditching to just… go off and have dinner with you… but the flowers are nice! I really appreciate the thought. Well… if you need anything else, Vicky or I will be around.” I said quickly before retreating to the break room to set the flowers down in there. I’m sure daytime shift will appreciate how they brighten up the room. I distantly noted how pale he looked after I said Sans’ name.

\--You knew this would happen.—

            Sans waited outside for the bastard to come out. While he appreciated the fact that the guy had the balls to apologize for being a dick, he didn’t like the sound of some guy hanging around Anna’s workplace for her to show up. Thank fuck that he insisted on walking her to and from work every time. He was in luck when, not ten minutes later, a _very_ familiar guy walked back out. Oh yeah. He recognized Norman alright. Art student who couldn’t quite afford the fees for school and needed a small, unofficial loan. He still owed him about… three grand? It had been a few semesters of helping the ballsy shit go through college. He stepped out of the alley and in front of the decidedly pale Norman.

            “Sup, Norman? How’s school been going?” he asked casually. Oh yeah, let’s not forget Norman’s rather charming tendency to flirt around a bit, which Sans couldn’t really judge him for. But when Anna goes into the equation…

            “S-S-Sans! I-I didn’t know! I swear!”

            “Know what, Norman? You’re a pretty decent guy. I’m _sure_ you didn’t do anything… _questionable_.” Norman shook his head.

            “Nope! Nothing! Not a thing, I swear! I j-just apologized to her! That’s it!” Sans lifted a bony brow, “O-Okay, so I also gave her flowers, I thought she’d like that!” Sans waited a little longer and dear ole Norman _sang_ , “A-And I asked her to dinner! B-But she turned me down! Said you were walking her home! T-That’s all, I sWeAR!” Norman’s voice cracked at the end. Possibly because of the length of bone that shot past his head, just narrowly missing the idiot’s ear.

            “That better B E  A L L,  N O R M A N. Or I’m coming after you for the rest of that loan…” Sans said meaningfully, fully intending to suggest he wasn’t entirely opposed to cashing in on broken bones. The coward ran off into the night. Good fucking riddance.

\--Plot? Where have you been?!—

            Norman stopped running about three blocks away, gasping for breath. He hated the fact that he had to get a fucking loan from that bastard. In fact, he’d been hearing some shit around about plans to get back at Sans. He could get in on that… his thoughts flashed back to that cute worker in Hobby Lobby. Anna. It probably wouldn’t end well for her…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I would have done it sooner, but I was distracted by Ocarina of Time for the 3DS. Hehe... opps? Anyway, yeah. I hope you enjoy the fun stuff here because we'll probably get a time skip. I have to admit, I lost track of time inside this story. I just settled on the "Sick, recovery, and Undyne and Alphys" bit taking place over about three days.


	27. Of Love--Lost and Found.

            With every day getting closer to Sunday, I felt more and more tense. It got so bad that I specifically changed my socks to the goofy looking toe socks for Friday. Sans sure as hell noticed, his face looking incredibly red as his smile was quite strained.

            “Ya alright, sweetheart?” he said, looking briefly at my feet. I nodded my head.

            “Yeah… I’m just… really nervous about Sunday.” He shifted awkwardly.

            “You don’t… have to. Go Sunday, I mean. There’s no need to pressure yourself.” he said reassuringly, setting down on the couch next to me. Papyrus was out shopping for more groceries. I shook my head.

            “No… I need to do this. I’ve put it off for so long and I just need to… do it.” Sans looked over at me for a long moment before patting his lap.

            “Give me.”

            “What?” I asked in confusion. Give him what?

            “Your feet.” He said as his hands started to glow with warmth. Oh… a foot massage? Good to know Sans’ isn’t weird about feet like Alphys and Undyne seemed to be when buying my socks. I adjusted myself and swung my feet onto his lap. He seemed to hesitate for a full five seconds before gently fondling my feet. It was really nice and in a matter of moments I was practically out of it. For someone without any skin and muscles, he sure knew the pressure points of the human foot. Though I wasn’t sure if the massage was as effective with socks on. He even managed to pop my toes. I wasn’t sure if I vocally made my appreciation known, I was almost asleep by that point. The last thing I could remember was a sharp burst of fire(?) at the bottom of my stomach, but it didn’t come from me…

\--Siiinnnnn but not really.—

            Sans wasn’t sure if he should strangle Undyne and Alphys or thank them. Somehow, they managed to convince Anna to get _toe socks_ of all things. He heard garter socks being thrown around, but Anna never wore shorts, so he could never actually tell if she was wearing those. Toe socks, on the other hand, are very distinctive. And these were rainbow socks. He should be on fire with all the sinful thought he had in his skull right now. She wasn’t even awake anymore!

            Though, it was good to note that she was so sensitive to touch. FUCKING HELL! BATHE ME IN HOLY FUCKING WATER AND WATCH ME BURN ALIVE! Sans screamed inside his head as he slipped and accidentally released a bit of lustful emotions through his hands. He froze, absolutely mortified as he tried to not even blink, terrified she’d wake up and question why she felt lewd emotions that weren’t her own. But, he was granted a small Mercy that day, and Anna remained asleep. He relaxed slightly and just enjoyed more tame things. Like the gentle, trusting weight of Anna’s feet on his lap and the small scuffling of a small red dragon resting on his skull. Wait, what? Sans jerked his head up and saw a very familiar hoard of dragons waiting patiently above him.

            “OH SHi—“

\--Shame on you, Sans. Shaaammmeee~!—

            The day was here. Sunday. Papyrus was even going with Sans and I. Apparently, they knew a spot where no one was around, but they did suggest I wear something winter ready. One pair of good jeans and a thick red sweater later and I was ready. Well… as ready as I could be. Papyrus held onto the portrait wrapped up in a quilt and Sans just held out his hand for me to take.

            “It’s alright if you don’t want to do this yet, Anna… no one would blame you.” I shook my head. I _needed_ to do this.

            “Nope. I’m… I’m ready.” I declared, proud that my voice didn’t waver in the slightest. Papyrus put his hand on Sans’ shoulder and between one blink and another we were in a snowy land. “Where the hell are we?!”

            “Snowdin. Our hometown in the underground.” Sans rumbled quietly.

            “Oh.” that’s all I could say.

            “Where shall we have our emotional gathering?” Papyrus asked.

            “How about in front of our old house? When it gets too cold, we can go inside and warm back up.” Sans suggested. Papyrus nodded and we headed into what I thought was a random direction. The snow wasn’t terrible, but it was difficult to see beyond ten feet. After several minutes we came upon an abandoned town with what appeared to be a large Christmas tree in the center. At the end of the town was a rather cute house. It had seen better days, and it was abandoned for quite a while. But it was… it was good.

            “So… here?” I asked quietly. Sans nodded.

            “Yep. We have firewood out back, let me go get that.” Sans said neutrally as he slowly trudged to the side of the house. Papyrus sat down in the snow.

            “Would you… care to share about… this?” Papyrus asked gently, patting the bundled quilt. I took a deep breath and reached over, revealing the portrait underneath.

            “It’s… difficult to talk about.” Papyrus took in the crying, pleading face of my brother and looked at me.

            “You… do not have to talk about it. The Great and Terrible Papyrus is excellent at subtext. If you wish… you could just… not.” He said awkwardly. I shook my head.

            “No… it hurts to talk about Brian, but not as much as pretending I didn’t fuck up for about six years. Brian was the best big brother I could have asked for…” I started as Sans started building up the fire carefully, the growing warmth easing the pain of remembering the events of my mistake so clearly, but not as much as when Sans sat down next to me and pulled me into his lap. Both of the skeleton brothers were quiet while I told the story once more. Sans and Papyrus reaching out to stroke my hair or squeezing my hand periodically. By the time the fire was built up enough I was finished telling the story. Papyrus looked a little choked up, his eye sockets rimmed with bright sunset orange tears.

            “The Great and Terrib--… I… if it is not presumptuous of me… I would gladly greet you as a sister… If you would not mind.” I looked up in surprise, my eyes particularly damp.

            “I… _Papyrus_ …” I was practically speechless.

            “You could… well, consider me family as well, sweetheart.” Sans said thinly, as though there was something stuck in his throat. I thought for a moment. What it would be like to finally have a _family_ … rather than just people that don’t talk to me. But then, there was my feelings for Sans, the feelings I had yet to sort through.

            I breifly imagined what it would be like to agree with both of them. I’d be happy… we’d be happy… I’m sure of it. But… looking back now, I could see there was a very basic difference between the love I had for Brian and the feelings I had for Sans. Sure, I wanted to spent time with both of them, but with Sans I wanted… more. I liked to _be_ with Sans, hanging out, walking together, and being _physically_ close. If I could, I’d do the same with Brian. But I never _ever_ had the desire to hold Brian. To give him affection the way I do with Sans. The desire to give _more_. In general. The crippling sadness aside, I felt the same for Papyrus as I do Brian. Platonic affection. But Sans…

            “No… It wouldn’t be presumptuous, Papyrus. Hoo… but um… I don’t think it would be… appropriate to call or consider you my brother Sans. I love you both, but _certainly_ not the same way.” I reached over and grabbed the portrait, looking into Brian’s eyes one last time as I gently eased his expression from sadness to peace. Slowly, but surely, he didn’t look sad anymore, but like he was sleeping. His cheeks still wet as I gently set it onto the fire, the last image I had of him of peace rather than despair. After a long moment I heard Sans take in a shuddering breath.

            “Ki…Swee… _Anna_ …” Sans struggled for words. I looked up at him and was shell shocked. Sans looked… oh boy, his face was incredibly red, his smile slightly strained as his eyes turned a soft pink with a wavering heart shape. I felt my face grow red and kissed the side of his jaw with a giggle. I guess he did return my feelings if he made a face like that. Papyrus laughed joyfully.

            “Nyehehehe~! All my hard work has paid off! You two have finally confessed! Any longer and I would have gifted Anna with my dating manual. Well… technically, Sans has not recovered enough to express his mutual affection, but I have faith that he will soon come to his senses. But in the meantime, would you like to engage in a sibling bonding snow fight?” Papyrus declared as he lifted me off of Sans’ lap, Sans arms emptily reaching out to me in his dazed confusion. I let out a squeal of laughter as Papyrus dashed off, Sans left staring at the burning cinders of what was once a very painful portrait. I think Brian would be… proud of me. Happy even, as I started to make a snowball to throw at Papyrus, my very strange new brother doing the same.

\--Hey, look! Finally some progress, but does it count yet?!—

            Sans sat there, ass planted in the snow like he had nothing better to do after his fucking hardcore _crush_ admitted she couldn’t view him as a brother because _her feelings_ for him weren’t appropriate for _familial_ relations. Then she kissed him! Well… his jaw, but that sweet little peck was like everything right in the world shook his hand and… hah. Oh. Right. He didn’t reply. Or… say anything, really. He was just so… surprised. She was so… _innocent_. He expected it to take months, while hoping it wouldn’t, of course. It pained him, quite a lot, to offer himself as a brother figure. It would mean giving up completely at being with Anna romantically, all to give her the family support she hadn’t really had (from what he could tell) for a very long time. But then… but then she confessed to him. More or less. AND FUCKING HELL, HE SHOULD BE MOVING RIGHT NOW! TELLING HER HE FEELS THE SAME, KISSING HER LIKE IN THOSE ROMANCE MOVIES!! JUST FUCKING SOMETHING! NOT. SITTING. ON. HIS. ASS.

            Determined now, he shot up and looked around for Anna, not entirely sure what he’d do to tell her he feels the same, but he’ll think of it when he gets there. He heard a squeal of laughter off to his left and his brother’s odd chuckle, along with the sound of snowballs flying through the air. Glancing at the fire, now burning low with only a slightly charred wooden frame inside, Sans lifted a glowing red hand and buried it in the snow, a low hiss emanating from the fire before being solidly buried. Silently, he promised to whatever was left of Brian that he’d make sure Anna was happy from now on. He distantly thought he heard a soft male voice on the icy wind, but disregarded it when he saw no one was there. Turning on his heel, he went after Anna and Papyrus.

            He never saw the tall, lanky figure of a familiar human male standing where the fire once lay with a peaceful expression. Watching from afar as his sister finally let go of the tragedy that separated them in the first place. A slight glare in his eyes as he looked to the side where a dark figure looked on impassively, biding its time until it would be free of the Void. Once and for all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND HEY! LOOK! IT FINALLY FUCKING HAPPENED... sort of. The next chapter will be Sans confession, because he sure as hell won't leave it be like that. But I have to wonder, just how successful will the edge lord be?
> 
> And Gaster, the creepy fuck, watches from afar. Sure, Brian does the same, but it's different. Intentions, ya know? Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, 'cause I sure as hell did!


	28. Tralalala Don't be Shy, You gotta--

            For some reason, the skeleton brother’s expected it to be _easy_ to hit me with snowballs. I spent years observing my environment without being obvious (people acted weird when they thought you were being suspicious), so it was only natural that I’d see a snowball coming at least most of the time. The only one harder to pin down was Sans, but he cheated by teleporting if Papyrus and I got too close. After about an hour, Sans called it quits, on account of how much trouble I had pronouncing my words because I was so cold. Ushering me into their house, I felt an odd pang as I walked by a mound of snow that was once the fire.

            I hissed when Sans grabbed my hand to lead me through the door, my hands were pretty cold, but I could _feel_ the icy chill of Sans’ phalanges. He looked startled and then apologetic.

            “Sorry, sweetheart.”

            “Holy shit, Sans! You’re cold!” he chuckled a little as Papyrus went to turn on the heat. They couldn’t turn off the ‘Core’, where the power for the generator was powered, so most monsters just shut off what they could when they left.

            “Well, I knew that. But Papyrus and I grew up here, so our magic adapted to it. We can still _feel_ it, but after a while our magic just makes sure we feel warm, even if the surface of our bones doesn’t quite seem that way. Give it a few and I’ll be back to normal.” I returned his smile and watched as he turned a deep shade of red again, “Uh… Anna, would you like to… uhm… go somewhere tomorrow? Just you and I?” he asked awkwardly, refusing to meet my eyes. If it wasn’t for his reaction to my confession (not to mention Papyrus’ reaction) I’d be nervous that he didn’t like me too.

            “Sure!” I said happily, but was unable to see his reaction since a blanket was dropped over my head, “Hey!” I tried reaching for the edge to free myself but arms, I wasn’t sure whose, wrapped around me.

            “I think I quite like my new burrito sister! Look how compact and easy to carry she is, Sans!” Papyrus jokingly said as I felt myself being hoisted over what I thought was Papyrus’ shoulder. I kicked my legs in a futile effort of resistance, laughing and feeling warmer already.

            “Haha, let me go, Papyrus!” I shrieked, feeling myself being launched onto a soft surface not even five seconds later.

            “Oh, very well. But _only_ because I prefer spaghetti, not burritos!” Papyrus declared as I shoved the blanket off finally.

            “Whatever you say, _brother_ ~!” I said with a smile, causing Papyrus to turn a pretty shade of sunset orange. Sans looked slightly off, but overall quite happy.

\--Sans’ got a plan!—

            Monday morning started out pretty good. I woke up, rolled out of bed, ate breakfast with Papyrus, and Sans dropped me off on campus, promising that after my classed were over, we’d have that _outing_. He called it that specifically. An ‘outing’. Like he was nervous about the word _date_. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. But, after classes, which were basically overlooking our projects at the moment, I waited next to the fountain for Sans to show up, like every other day. After twenty minutes of awkwardly standing there like I wasn’t expecting anyone, but was just totally chilling out, Sans finally showed up.

            “Sans! W-Whoa… um… did you run into trouble or something?” Sans looked nice, no mistake about it, but he looked really… ruffled. His clothes looked freshly laundered but like they fought him while he was trying to get dressed. He wore a very nice red button up, the buttons just one button off, his jacket extra clean (but the hood fluff seemed… electrified), and his pants seemed a little… _too_ starched. I fought a snort of laughter. He looked like such a dork.

            “What?! Uh… Oh! Uhm, no. No trouble, I just… decided to do laundry.” He said sheepishly. Well… he’s not lying. Mostly. He did look like he just did laundry. The fountain area was pretty much abandoned right now, so I could at least five two out of three problems.

            “Are you wearing a shirt under that button up, Sans?” he looked startled and increasingly more flustered as he nodded his head.

            “Well, then I could fix your shirt, if you want… you sort of… buttoned it wrong.” I pointed out gently. His eyes widened to the size of silver dollars as he looked down.

            “Shit! Uhm… I-I… uh… yeah. I’d a-appreciate it…” Sans muttered. I giggled a little and started to fix the buttons of his shirt, noticing how oddly fast his chest seemed to be rising and falling. After that was done, I reached over and dipped my hands in the fountain water before running my hands through his jacket’s fur collar, the static immediately dissipating.

            “There we go. All fixed. And now, you don’t look like you’re about to release a thunderbolt attack!” I chirped at his perplexed expression.

            “A-Are you sure that was sanitary?” I giggled a little.

            “It’s chlorinated, sure, but it’s more sanitary than licking my hands. So… are we going… wherever we are?” I asked, pulling Sans from his thoughts with a jerk, “And Sans?” he froze.

            “W-What? What else is wrong?” he snapped a little shrilly, “Did I forget my shoes?!... Did I forget my shoes?” he whispered in horror before looking down and sighing in relief. Even his sneakers looked cleaner than before. I smiled a little. He was so… oddly nervous. It was cute.

            “I was going to say you looked nice, Sans.” I said gently, taking his shaking hand in mine. His face darkened in shades of red.

            “Thanks.”

            “Almost makes me want to go back home and change into something nicer.” I added helpfully. Sans struggled for a response.

            “No! I mean, home? No, wait, I mean, you don’t have to. You look fine… but home?” I couldn’t stop the embarrassed smile if I tried.

            “Well, yeah… my skele-bro and sugar skull lives there, why wouldn’t I call it home?” I asked. Sans struggled for a response again but ultimately just tugged me closer into an embrace. I nuzzled into what felt like his collar bone. When I pulled away, we were in a park. It looked a little busy for a Monday, with dogs, children, and joggers scattered across the pristine grounds. Nearby, a rather grumpy looking blue rabbit sold what appeared to be ‘Tsun-pops’.

            “Want one? It’s a monster ice cream. Gives you odd, backhanded compliments on the wrapper.” Sans asked. I nodded.

            “Yeah. I’ve never had one before. Do they taste good?” Sans lead me over to the ice cream cart.

            “Two ‘Tsun-pops’.” Sans asked tersely, the rabbit glancing over at me before clicking his tongue and handing me two pops. Red and yellow. Sans handed him a few bucks, which I assumed to be the appropriate amount, and the rabbit snickered to himself a little.

            “Do you mind if I have the red one, Sans? I don’t like treats that are colored yellow. They usually end up being lemon, pineapple, or banana.” I said with a grimace. Sans, clearly not quite paying attention, nodded.

            “Sure, sweetheart. It’s made of magic, though, so I doubt it would be one of tho-o-se.” he froze, his back turned towards the rabbit guy, who laughed a little harder. In one hand I was holding the yellow Tsun-pop, but in the other I was steadily working my way through the red one. It was a little odd in terms of flavor. At first, it seemed to taste just a little _too_ cold, but then melted into what my mind immediately labeled as sun warmed strawberries. How odd. Sans very pointedly grabbed the yellow Tsun-pop and practically devoured it, his face a seeming overheated now.

            By the time I was done, Sans had just started to look normal, his wrapper ( _“Like I care how nice you look!”_ ) was thrown into the trash. I looked at my own wrapper and laughed a little. _“Are you mocking me with that doll face of yours!?”_ How weird. I tossed both and held Sans hand again.

            “Okay, what next?” I asked. Sans looked around, his cheekbones a little red.

            “Well… can we just… walk around?” I smiled and nodded. Everything was going pretty great. I wasn’t sure what Sans’ intentions were, but any time spent with him is a good time in my book. We walked down the paved path for a few minutes, Sans hand clenching and relaxing with more frequency as time went on. When it looked like he was about to say something, a loud yowl ripped through the air along with the rather happy barking of a dog.

            “KITTY!” a little girl cried out as she ran after a golden retriever that was chasing a small tom cat. Until the cat scrambled up a tree, that is. The little girl with bouncy red hair and coveralls started to tear up as the dog lost interest and ran back to his other doggy friends. I wanted to help, but there really wasn’t any way up the tree. When the little girl started to cry, Sans moved.

            “Hey, kid. That your cat?” the little girl spun around and gasped at the sight of Sans but nodded anyway. Sans let out a hefty sigh and raised his free hand with glowing red magic, the cat turning a similar shade of red before gently being lowered off the tree branch and into the arms of the little girl. When the cat looked calm enough, Sans released his magic, and the cat proceeded to act as though it didn’t just tear up the side of a tree in fear. The little girl looked thrilled and bounded over to Sans, gesturing for him to lower himself a little. “What now, kid?” Sans asked gruffly, but still kneeling down to be almost eye level with the little girl.

            “Thanks Mr. Skeleton!” she crowed before kissing Sans soundly above his nasal cavity. He looked so shocked as the little girl ran off that I couldn’t help but laugh. Sans was flushed as he stood back up woodenly and, without a word, slung his arm over my shoulder and continued walking like nothing happened. I moved my legs fast to keep up with his slightly agitated steps. After about a quarter of a mile of silence, I decided to speak up.

            “What’s eating at you, sugar skull?” I asked. He stopped suddenly, his face lowered so I almost couldn’t see his expression.

            “Damnit… I’m _such_ a fuck up!” I was confused, but didn’t speak up, “I froze when you told me you liked me, I couldn’t properly dress myself, that bunny bastard fucking messed with me on purpose, and then that kid and their damn cat! Just before I could tell you! Fuck!” he looked so agitated and flustered. Refusing to meet my eyes.

            “Sans, it’s alright.” I squeezed his hand gently, “I thought it was cute when you froze. How you were so nervous for… whatever this is, that you didn’t even button your shirt right. I liked the Tsun-pop. It tasted great. And just now, with that little girl? I thought it was sweet. Whatever you want to tell me, it’s okay. I don’t care if it takes you five minutes or five months to tell me. I just… What I said yesterday, don’t let it pressure you. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I like you. A lot. But not like a brother/sister thing. And at the end of the day, I’m happy just… _being_ with you. Regardless of what we’re doing.” I finished, feeling a little awkward since Sans had basically turned into a statue about halfway through… what was he thinking now?

            “… fuck no.” I jerked a little.

            “What?”

            “I ain’t going to take five months, sweetheart.” He said with a very… _determined_ glint in his eyes, “I’ve known how I felt about you since the night I stopped those bastards from messing with you. I was _gone_ , sweetheart. No way back. No way out. I’m so crazy about you, it isn’t even funny. All my fuck ups today was my way of trying to ask if you’d like to be my… my girlfriend. T-that… that is what you meant, right? When you said you liked me?” Sans asked, beads of sweat accumulating across his brow. My face was flushed red as I nodded, “Thank fuck!” Sans sighed in relief. He visibly seemed to steel himself for something, “Sorry.”

            “Sorry for wh-“ Sans leaned down and I closed my eyes in reflex. Just in time for what felt like lips to land on mine for what seemed like a frozen moment in time. Oh… Sans… he… kissed me. Is kissing me. As in, it’s still going on. My face felt like it was on fire, but it didn’t dull the warm bubbly feeling across my lips. The world fell away for that one moment before it came crashing back down as Sans moved away from me. I was frozen, my face red, but not nearly as red as his. I doubt I’d ever be able to turn as red as Sans could. I felt a little wobbly as a small smile inched its way into a full-fledged grin. Sans matching it with a goofy smile. My hands covered my face as I started laughing. I only removed my hands to hug Sans tightly, my laughter still going.

            “Y-You’re… forgiven… absolved of all crimes. Not that any occurred. That… you… Ngh….” Sans started laughing with me, his arms wrapping securely around me, and the world didn’t stop, but it did slow down as warmth bubbled all the way through to my Soul. Yep. Capitalized ‘S’. I knew I made the right decision in confessing to him. At that moment, I’d never felt happier in my life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \--Kiss the girl. So, it took me a while to write this since I was distracted by a haircut (feels fabulous), cake (tasted fabulous), and Bongo Bongo from Ocarina of Time (decidedly not fabulous to beat. Bastard). But, hey! Look! They're official! And Sans kissed Anna! I mean, he didn't ask, but he did apologize beforehand. That's the compromise I came up with for making sure it wasn't... too sketchy. He's sketchy, the way they met was sketchy, but they're actual relationship will not be, damn it! Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter~! Imma post it now!


	29. Congratulations All Around

            Sans could not believe how ballsy he was in stealing a kiss from his innocent little sweetheart. If he had seen someone else try the same thing, they’d find themselves having a B A D  T I M E. But all he could feel was incredible satisfaction as they headed home together, fingers laced and shoulders gently brushing against each other. They didn’t even get the chance to tell Papyrus, he seemed to know immediately.

            “I see you have finally stepped up, brother! Nyehehe! I shall make celebratory spaghetti, just for the occasion!” Then Papyrus leapt into the kitchen to start cooking. He had just sat down on the couch next to Anna when the door burst open.

            “Fucking finally!” Undyne screeched with a very satisfied Alphys, who leered in satisfaction.

            “Bone Zone is a go!” Alphys cackled, causing Sans to choke on air.

            “F-Fucking hell! Hyeck! Y-You crazy bitch!” Anna just looked confused.

            “Is… that a pun? Vicky said the same thing. Like, is it a pun because I’m in a relationship with a skeleton? Like, a graveyard pun?” Sans felt his world constrict as he began choking a little harder, Alphys and Undyne laughing at his difficulties.

            “Well, not quite! It’s actually a pun about h-“ Undyne started but Sans wasn’t about to let them corrupt his innocent sweetheart.

            “Finish that sentence and I’ll end you.” Sans managed to choke out. The next four. Fucking. Hours consisted of him blocking any attempts to corrupt Anna, all the way until he slammed the door on them and they were finally gone. Then it was a quiet night of getting ready for bed. All he wanted to do was hold Anna close and sleep. She was a little… hesitant to climb into bed.

            “Sans… is this weird?” she asked, a lost look in her eyes. Sans was reminded about how… innocent she was due to her self-imposed isolation. If she had socialized more, she likely wouldn’t have been so okay with sleeping next to him all this time. To be honest, it hurt a little bit to see her uncertainty.

            “Well… do you feel… _unsafe_? Uncomfortable?” She shook her head and he lifted the covers up for her, “Then don’t worry about it. This, this right here? It’s between me, you, and the sheets. No one else. Just because we’re official now doesn’t mean you have to back off. If you don’t like anything that’s happening, tell me, and I’ll fix it. End of story. Do you… want to sleep separately?” She concentrated on her thoughts for a long moment before shaking her head. Something eased in him at that.

            “No… I guess I’m just being… silly.” He reached over and pulled her in.

            “Well, that’s alright. Be as silly as you want to, sweetheart. As long as you’re happy, I’ll be fine… night.”

            “Goodnight, Sans.” she whispered into his collarbone, her body tucked against his perfectly. Yeah… he’ll be just fine…

\--Time skip!—

            Sans never thought he’d be here. As in, at the college graduation of his girlfriend, watching her receive her diploma. For what seemed like eternity, he thought he was doomed to live and die under that fucking mountain. Then the kid comes along, attitude and all, and befriends damn near every monster in the underground. Then, they were free, and for years Sans lived it up. Until he saw her, just one small moment where her panicked expression caught his eye. Everything changed, once again.

            The ceremony was boring as hell, mostly just Undyne, Papyrus, Alphys, and himself watching a bunch of humans he didn’t give a shit about graduate. He almost couldn’t spot Anna, she looked damn near like everyone else in a sea of red graduation gowns.

            “Anna Collins.” And he couldn’t help the smirk as Undyne and Papyrus’ whooping easily drowned out the polite round of clapping as she was handed her diploma and had that goofy tassel switched to the other side. He could see his baby’s blush from all the way over in the stands as she returned to her seat. After what seemed like hours, everyone was dismissed as the ceremony was over, and Papyrus and Undyne lead the way to Anna. Chuckling, he kept a sharp eye out for an opening in the crowd before blipping over right next to her.

            “You haven’t seen a cute human, have you? I watched this boring graduation just for her, but I can’t seem to find her.” Sans droned against her ear. Anna jumped and turned around, a bright smile on her beautiful face.

            “Well, can’t say I have. What a coincidence though! I’m looking for a sugar skull, about yea tall, intimidating and sketchy looking. Have you seen him around?” She asked prettily. He couldn’t help but chuckle, paying no mind to the odd looks of the humans around him as he heard Papyrus and Undyne get closer.

            “Sketchy looking, huh? Sounds like trouble. You sure you can handle that kind of guy, sweetheart?” Warm affection and magic bubbled along his ribs as she laughed. He loved how her eyes looked like a golden sun when she laughed.

            “Sans!”

            “That his name? He sounds like a punk. Why don’t you drop him and come with me?” he teased. Anna hugged him tightly, her laughter shaking her shoulders.

            “W-What about your… your cute human, hm? Bet she’ll be heartbroken.” Sans finally relented, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, swiping off the goofy cap to lay a small kiss on her forehead. They hadn’t kissed since he rather boldly took what he later realized was her first kiss, but he didn’t mind much. He knew his little sweetheart was pretty inexperienced and shy, but she was his, and that’s all that mattered to him.

            “Congratulations, sweetheart.” He whispered into her ear and let go so Papyrus could swing her around.

            “Adulation and celebration is yours, sister mine! For all your years of hard work, you have finally completed your education! The Great and Terrible Papyrus would expect no less from his squishy human sister!” Papyrus declared as he spun around in a circle, forcing Anna to cling to his shoulders as she laughed. A small circle of space was created by very cautious humans around the small gathering of monsters and one human.

            “…Annie?” A hesitant male voice said from behind Sans. Papyrus put Anna down and she looked… shocked.

            “Mom? Dad? Y-You’re… you’re here. Wow.” Sans turned and had to admit it, she certainly inherited her mother’s looks. Though that was definitely her father’s eye color. Both adults had dark and graying hair, appearing to be in their late fifties, but otherwise aging quite well. They also wore business suits appropriate for more formal functions. They both looked tearful at the sight of their only child graduating college.

            “S-Sweetie… we… that is uhm…” and apparently Anna inherited her mother’s tendency to find it difficult to speak at times. Anna let out a small sigh and walked forward to embrace her mother.

            “Yeah… I know… Mom, dad? These are my friends. Undyne. Alphys. Papyrus.” She pointed to each in turn, “And guys, this is my mom and dad. And finally… this is my boyfriend, Sans. He’s Papyrus’ brother.” She finished awkwardly. He smiled softly. It felt so good to be called that. But… damn. He could tell no on in her family handled Brian’s death well. He could almost see the grief covering their shoulders with a heavy, unseen weight.

            “Ah, it is good to meet you…” Papyrus said a little uncertain of what to call them. Anna’s father was the first to recover. He reached out to shake Papyrus’ gloved hand.

            “Call me Mike, Papyrus. And my lovely wife is Carla. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Papyrus nodded and Undyne and Alphys tilted their heads in greeting as well. Carla let go of Anna after a long, slightly tearful moment.

            “Do you… have any plans after this, dear? We’re in town for a few days and we thought it would be nice to… catch up.” okay, Sans could feel the heavy and stifling amount of baggage they had.

            “We actually planned on going out to eat at this nice restaurant. Private section… probably a few chairs open… if you want to join.” Sans said, hoping for everyone’s sakes that they agreed. It would probably be awkward, but it would likely help smooth over the long period of time they didn’t communicate. But, Mike shook his head.

            “No, we can’t impose. It… we’ve…” oh. Apparently it wasn’t just the mother and child that did that, “We can have a family dinner tomorrow. I’d invite you four but there’s something that we, Carla and I, have put off for a very long time. We… Let’s just say we have a lot to answer for to our daughter. If you’re comfortable with it, Annie dear, then your skele-man can come along.” Carla elbowed Mike hard, causing Anna to snort a little.

            “I-I think… that would be nice.” Anna said, looking at Sans in askance. Yeah. This would be heavy and likely very uncomfortable, but he couldn’t just let her go alone. Sans nodded.

            “Sure. Why don’t you give your parents your number, so you can get the details on that dinner, sweetheart?” Sans suggested lightly, gently running his hand on her slightly exposed forearm for support. She nodded and turned to give her mother her phone number. With a final hug goodbye they parted ways, Anna slightly emotional still, but more than ready for a rowdy dinner with everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And hey, a time skip to graduation! Oh, and plot will come knocking soon and this will all be finished up, so expect this story to be done within a week. Next chapter will have emotional stuff for sure. And I can't help but wonder if Gaster will every /actually/ get out. Like, at all? But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!


	30. Dinner Date

            Undyne and Papyrus were absolute pros at distraction. All during dinner I barely had a moment of peace to think about what my parents could want. Between Papyrus’ questions about what I’d learned during college and Undyne’s oddly invasive questions getting fielded by Sans, I had a great time. Exhausting, but great. In fact, it was only when I was lying in bed with Sans that my mind began to whirl around my parents. What they meant by ‘answer for’ and how incredibly long it had been since we had even spoken, let alone talked.

            “Sweetheart, fretting isn’t going to help anything. Just go to sleep.” He said against my ear softly, his hand reaching up to massage my scalp, “I’ll be with you the whole time. It’s going to be okay.” I felt a familiar wave of warmth as his emotions swept alongside my own troubled feelings… oh. Oh.

            “Oh…” his fingers dug lightly into my nape before pausing.

            “’Oh’ what sweetheart?” I laughed a little to myself.

            “I just realized the… uhm… Empathy thing you do… the whole time, it was basically a confession. Jeez, how _dense_ can I be?!” he was literally showing me his emotions the whole damn time. Fucking hell. Sans shook a little as a rumbling chuckle brushed by my hair.

            “You’re not dense, sweetheart. Just… inexperienced. Besides, I thought it was cute. Now, no more distractions. Go to sleep, Anna.” He said firmly, his hand continuing its ministrations. After several moments, despite my best efforts, I fell asleep.

\--Do you hear that?—

            It was incredibly tense, or at least, I felt incredibly tense waiting for time to pass. Papyrus insisted I help him make pancakes, bacon, and eggs, refusing to let my mind stray from my appointed tasks. He was clearly reluctant to not go with Sans and I, but understood that the current situation wouldn’t be helped at all if he came along declaring himself as my ‘brother’. After a filling breakfast, Papyrus insisted on training exercises. Which seemed to consist of taking control of one origami figure, and then trying to control more. It was met with… mixed success. While I couldn’t take complete control, I could _guide_ them. So, say, if I wanted to have a dragon land on Papyrus’ head even if he kept moving, I could give said dragon a goal, but I could not steer it to Papyrus’ head.

            Any of the origami figures that weren’t being used migrated to Sans, but instead of bombarding him, they seemed content to merely lay _around_ him, rather than _on_ him. After that, he insisted on seeing how my ability to animate extended to other, not-quite inanimate recreations. Clouds, for example, were great fun. Made from cotton balls glued together, they aimlessly floated and changed shape in a very limited fashion. Having zero self-control, we then proceeded to make enough that almost the entirety of the ceiling was covered in cotton clouds. If too many gathered together, static build up and made tiny zaps of electricity, the clouds darkening dramatically, but refusing, or perhaps, unable, to make any form of rain. It was incredibly fun to just watch. In fact, we literally watched the cotton clouds change form until two hours till the dreaded family dinner.

            I immediately set about getting dressed, a text from mom indicating that it was a dressy setting, but I didn’t have to wear a dress, just something nice. Which meant that I needed to filter through all the new clothes I had received. After several ‘almost but not quite’ choices, I was ready to throw something.

            “You look stressed, sweetheart. Need some help?” I looked back as Sans with a grateful smile. He was wearing the handsome red button up shirt with clean black slacks and dress shoes. He looked dashing and much more put together than the last time I saw him in that shirt.

            “Yeah, mom said that I didn’t have to wear a dress, but that it was still a bit of a dressy place. You’ll be fine, but most of my new wardrobe _is_ already quite nice.” Sans hummed in consideration as he gently began picking up the various shirts, pants, and skirts, placing them neatly into three piles. I couldn’t tell the difference between the three piles by the time he was done.

            “You look nice in everything here, but I made three stacks. I thought it would be… uhm, appropriate? If you wore a similar shade of red as me, so you know… we matched. So, this pile here is a no, the middle a maybe, and the last is good.” I bit back laughter at the red stain along his cheekbones. Now that I looked at it, the no pile didn’t have any red at all.

            “Thanks, Sans. It would be nice if we matched, now I just need to look through the ‘good’ and ‘maybe’ piles.” In the ‘maybe’ pile there was a nice black button up shirt, but in the ‘good’ pile there was a nice odd red skirt thing that Alphys called a ‘lolita jumper skirt’. It looked like a slightly incomplete dress. No sleeves to be seen and had a top section that looked kind of like a vest, if you didn’t count the fact that it continued down into a full skirt that ended at my knees. It was a similar shade of red to Sans’ shirt, and would look quite striking against the black of my own button up. Now, I just needed to get tights for it. But first, putting away the ridiculous amount of clothes I tossed around. With Sans help, it didn’t take long, thankfully.

            “Alight, I’ll leave you to the rest, sweetheart.” Sans said, giving my cheek a light kiss. It was odd to feel lips where I couldn’t actually see any. Must have been that layer of magic Sans told me about that protects his bones. I nodded and waited until he was gone to look for proper leg wear. White tights would do nicely, I think, along with the black shoes Undyne insisted on grabbing. After putting everything on, I felt quite… nice. It was a bit fancy, but comfortable enough that I didn’t feel self-conscious. Walking into the living room, I fiddled with the skirt.

            “Alright, I think I’m ready, are you ready Sans?” I asked, walking into the living room. When I was met with silence, I looked up to see Sans, his face an incredible shade of berry red. Papyrus turned his head to Sans before looking at me.

            “Oh, honestly Sans! Your relationship will be incredibly dull if you insist on becoming a statue every time Anna wears something new.” Papyrus turned back to me, “You look lovely, Anna. I am sure the dinner with your parents will go splendidly. Since Sans still has not recovered, I will tell you that he is in fact, ready to go.” Papyrus stated primly. Sans shook his head slightly, his cheeks slowly fading into pink.

            “Oh, yeah! I’m… I’m ready to go… you look… you look beautiful, sweetheart. Let’s head over there, before we’re late.” Sans said, getting off the couch and opening the door for me. We walked to enjoy the cool night air in relative silence, our hands laced together with what felt like the palm of his hand softly sending me reassuring emotions. I greatly appreciated it as we made our way down various streets and to our destination. On the way, I noticed an odd amount of people hiding in the alleys, watching our progress. It was sort of subtle, but not entirely. Sans didn’t seem concerned though, so I wasn’t worried about it. Too much.

            The restaurant was quite nice, certainly quite fancy, and my parents were waiting just outside, seemingly nervous about being too early.

            “Hey, mom. Dad. We’re… early? I guess?” I said awkwardly, taking in the nice suit dad was wearing without the jacket so it wasn’t as formal. Mom wore a nice black skirt and white button up with pearl earrings, her dark hair curled. They looked… older than the last time I saw them at the end of high school, which, I mean… it made sense, but they _looked_ older. It was… strange how it wasn’t a physical thing that made them appear older, but it seemed to be a sort of… air around them. Dad nodded to Sans and grabbed mom’s hand.

            “Good… good. Let’s just… head inside.” We walked through into the nice, candle-lit exterior to a private booth where no one could just look in besides the staff. We sat down and looked at the menu for what they offered.

            “Please, don’t feel like you have to hold out, tonight is on us. I’ll have the cream soup with a glass of white wine.” My mom said reassuringly.

            “I will have the same as my wife.” I looked down at the menu.

            “I suppose I’d like to try the steak with sweet iced tea.” Sans seemed uncertain but eventually nodded.

            “I’ll try the same as her, I’ve heard great things about the steak here.” he said to the waiter finally. A basket of bread was set down at the table along with our drinks a few minutes of awkward silence later. After a sip of her wine, mom finally spoke up.

            “So… how did you two meet?” Ah. The one question I should have seen coming.

            “Well…” how did I put this in a way that _won’t_ result in the immediate intervention of my parents? “Sans runs a small loan business and he was meeting a client. I happened to walk by. A few days later I ran into trouble and he intervened. After that he insisted on walking me to and from work.” I chirped happily.

            “My, what a gentleman!” my mom noted. Sans looked pleased and conflicted at the same time.

            “How long have you two been together?” dad asked, an odd sharp tone coming across.

            “About a month. But I’ve basically been head over tarsals for her since I met her.” Sans said with slight embarrassment. My dad nodded as the food arrived. It smelled delicious. The majority of our meal was spent in companionable silence. When we were more or less finished, dad put down his silverware and looked up at me.

            “Annie, dear… we messed up. Badly…” he began, “After your brother passed, we basically left you alone, trying to bury our grief in work. You had always been rather self-sufficient, and in our grief, we thought that it was okay to just leave you like that. Alone. By the time we had started to move on, the distance between us was… intimidating.” Sans reached under the table and held my hand.

            “We didn’t know how to talk to you anymore. It was like we left for work while you were still a child and came back to a quiet and withdrawn adult. We knew something was wrong, but we never tried to talk about it, because then it’d be real. Our mistakes, the depth of our grief, and the fact that our family would never be the same. But then, a month ago, we both looked around the empty house and realized something. We weren’t getting any younger. Time had moved on while we thought ignoring a problem would make it better. But it didn’t.” my mom said, tears in her eyes. “We wanted to see if… if it was too late to try again? To do better? If not… then at least apologize for our mistakes. We loved your brother dearly, and in our mourning we forgot we had another child too. I-I’m… I’m so sorry, Annie dear.” We were both crying by the end of it, mom, dad, and me as well. Sans gripped my hand steadily, offering me support to do whatever I thought was right.

            “Mom… dad… I’d like to try again too.” I said brokenly, reaching across the table with my free hand to them, both my parents clutching it with grateful smiles.

            “Thank you, Annie dear. For letting us have another chance.” I shook my head at my dad’s words.

            “You never lost it in the first place.” I said simply. My Soul felt a little lighter, filled with warmth at this new opportunity. Sans just looked really proud of me, his smile soft and reassuring.

\--No, Seriously. What is that sound?—

            We said our goodbyes outside the restaurant with slightly tearful hugs and grateful smiles.

            “I love you guys, so much.” I said.

            “We love you too, Annie dear. You take good care of our daughter, young man. Society may not have a high standard for monsters, but as long as you are with her, we expect nothing but the best.” My mom said firmly, trying to be intimidating.

            “Yeah, or we’ll have a _bone_ to pick with you.” mom shoved an elbow against dad, “What? I thought it was _humorous_.” He looked five seconds away from a slap. Sans laughed heartily.

            “I wouldn’t dream of anything else, Mike. Carla. Have a good night.”

            “You too, Sans.” Mom said in exasperation at dad’s taste in jokes. Sans threaded his phalanges through my own fingers as we walked back home. I was so happy with how things turned out. I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.

            “Hey, Sans. Time to make good on our promise. With interest for what you did to my boys.” A man said as we passed an alley. Suddenly, we were surrounded by what appeared to be angry gangsters of some kind.

            “Sans?!” I said in panic as he pulled me closer.

            “I’ll take care of these guys, sweetheart. Make sure Papyrus knows what happened.” that was all I heard before he shoved me through a portal into the apartment. But Papyrus wasn’t there. Someone else was.

            “SANS!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /It's the sound of plot finally happening/. You know, I really don't see this ending well... for anyone.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and quite possibly the last happy/fluffy moment of this story. The end is nigh.


	31. If The World Was a Video Game this Ending Would be...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNINGS! Beatings and insinuated future attempt of non-con!

            The cotton clouds sparked angrily and converged, hot drops of glue falling down over the three intruders, ineffective due to the heavy clothing and lack of exposed skin. The couch was turned over, TV smashed, and the door kicked in. This was all planned, but where was Papyrus? I doubt he’d just stand by and let thugs crash through the house!

            “Don’t make this difficult for yourself, sweet cheeks.” The tallest one said gruffly, holding up a clean white rag. I had a bad feeling, my feet scooting backwards as my heart began to pound. Terror raced through my veins as hands gripped my arms before I could make a run for it. He struck like a snake, fast and lethal, one hand gripping my hair while the other shoved the cloth over my face. I felt the crushing weight of darkness consume me. My last dizzying thought was how sweet it smelled.

\--Bad End?—

            Sans didn’t waste his time with fancy moves, choosing to simply summon his Gaster Blasters and blow away the thugs in a hail of hot energy and bone. Every attempt to land a hit on his person was met with the harsh clubbing of a bone until, fifteen long minutes later, not a single one of them were still standing. Walking over to the leader, he lifted the mostly dazed man and gave him a hearty slap.

            “When the fuck will you get it, you _boneheads_?! I. Am. Not. Going. To. Work for you.” the human coughed up blood and smiled.

            “T-That’s too bad… she looked like a nice… girl…” a chill swept down his spine as he slammed the human against a brick wall.

            “What’s that supposed to mean, you _coccyx_!” He growled, his magic almost bursting a blaze of fire from his left eye.

            “W-We did…didn’t get the wrong address this time…” His eye sockets darkened into black pits for several moments as he processed what the bastard just said. This time, when his eye exploded in red, the guy let out a cry of fear, which was cut off by Sans’ fist driving against the prick’s jaw. He didn’t waste any time dashing through a portal into his apartment, only to find it ransacked, the scent of hot glue heavy in the air, and Papyrus gripping the doorway, his expression completely blank before hot blood orange magic filled the room.

            “P A P Y R U S… C A L L  A L P H Y S… She still has her phone on her.” Sans said, trying to get ahold of his burning magic that called for _blood_ and _violence_. Papyrus’ hand shook as he pulled out his phone. _Hold on, sweetheart. We’re coming_.

\--Desperation.—

            A painful explosion in my chest jerked me awake as my body was kicked into a crate. I gasped for breath, trying to regain air as harsh coughing wracked my lungs. My hands were tied behind my back. I tried to think, to observe my surroundings to stave off the growing panic. The rope was harsh, the ground cold and made of concrete, and I couldn’t hear any city life in my vicinity.

            “So sorry ‘bout this, sweetie. But Sans just doesn’t know how to play well with others, so we’re hoping this will teach him.” I rolled to face the source of the voice, a man in his thirties with harsh black stubble and a cut across his large nose. Blearily, I did note that he wasn’t deriving any sort of joy or pleasure from this. The same could not be said for his two cohorts behind him, lanky with sunken eyes. They kind of looked like they were missing out on a fix and weren’t handling detox well. My attention was drawn from them by a hard kick to my face.

            “S-Somehow… I don’t t-think this will h-help…” I whimpered. I could almost hear the shrug.

            “I think it will work better than you think. Boys. Remember. Rough, but not too much. We’re not trying to kill her… just maim or seriously injure.” Sarcastic bastard. His heavy footsteps left the room and a door slammed shut. After several long moments they pounced. A foot grinded painfully into my back, just over my bound wrists to pin me into place as another foot kicked my hip. A wave of numbness went down my right leg and I began to lose feeling in my hands. Then I heard the sound of metal sliding out of something and a cold feeling swept down my back. My breathing grew harsh as something slashed down my back, deep enough to cut, but not enough to cause any real damage.

            I couldn’t quite muffle the scream as the foot slammed down against the cut and grinded into my spine. Burning pain spread across my back as I heard laughter above me. I sighed in relief when he removed his foot, only to cry out as I was lifted up by my armpits, his arms holding me up firmly so the other guy could drive his fist into my stomach. I wretched and threw up, just barely missing the man in front of me. By their startled cries, I’d assume they didn’t expect that. My mind blurred with pain as I received a sharp back slap across my face. My eyes were blurry with tears as loud knocking filled the room.

            “Fuck… times up. Boss wants something.” I felt a harsh, mocking pat against my cheek, “But don’t worry, we’ll come back and have some _real fun_.” He said meaningfully, his hand lingering over my chest. I felt so cold and… dirty as I was shoved onto the floor, the door slamming behind them and locking shut. I gasped and gagged, the smell of vomit incredibly strong where I was laying down. I felt panic beginning to take over, but I _didn’t have time for that_. I could panic later, when I was safe. Right now, I needed to get away. It was difficult to sit up with my leg and hip throbbing, but I managed.

            The room was of a decent size, seemingly used for storage of crates. One was open and I peeked inside. Cans of black and white paint, but why? I looked down at the floor, noticing the clean white appearance despite the obvious age of the structure. There weren’t any windows and only a three rows of florescent lights illuminated the room. With every breath pain shot across my back as the skin was stretched with every inhale, not allowing it to quickly scab over. I tried to think rather than allow the icy cold chill of panic overtake me. Think! If I can’t get out, maybe I could send a message? I could feel my phone tucked into the pocket of my skirt, but the sound of grinding plastic told me that it was likely a fruitless endeavor. I wiggled my hands frantically, working the ropes loose until my hands were free to check my pocket. The old flip phone might have been functional, but the screen was busted. I couldn’t see if it was actually working, and the buttons didn’t make the ‘charming’ beep sounds. I let the useless phone drop down to the floor.

            Come one! Think! What else can you do?! Oh… I looked at the paint cans. If I painted something and animated it, it could probably get out through the cracks of the door. The walls had frames, but the floor didn’t, and that’s all that seemed to matter to paintings. I remember making a bird painting without a frame, just a piece of paper, and the creature made endless loops across the two sides until I made it stop. With shaking hands I grabbed a bucket of black and white paint and frantically tried to pry them open, my heart pounding harder with every noise outside the door. I ended up busting open the white can by accident, white paint spilling over my clothes and hands.

            “What was that?” I heard through the door. No! I stumbled over to the wall, slamming my paint covering hands against the wall, leaving white hand prints. I turned around and panted heavily against the wall, my hands covering my mouth to muffle my growing sobs. As the door started to unlock, I wanted nothing more than to be anywhere else. I wanted out. I wasn’t safe. I wanted to hide, but there wasn’t anywhere _to_ hide. I almost didn’t feel the thick, inky coldness slowly pulling me into unconsciousness as I fell limply against the cold wall. Strangely enough, unconsciousness felt like floating in an endless void… suddenly, I felt safe. I was okay.

\--Horrified.—

            Gaster felt… incredibly conflicted. He did not wish for the human’s pain or suffering. Not even for her death, even though freeing himself would very likely end as such. But what Anna just did… not only should it be impossible, but it would very likely be permanent. She was no longer within the realm of reality with his sons, nor even the Void with himself, but she was somewhere else entirely. And he did not know how to feel about it. But his sons… they would be _devastated_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I said this would likely take a week? Haha... good times. Well, this is likely to be /quite/ a bit shorter. Oh, and I changed the tags, did you notice?
> 
> I hope you... sort of enjoyed this chapter? Like, it wasn't pleasant, but it was... progress?
> 
> And I tried to make it as obvious as possible that Gaster was not behind... what just happened. In fact, this ruins his plans completely. Did you know (probably not) that I had this particular event planned /the whole time/? Like, it was literally the second thing I planned about Anna, right behind her ability/backstory. Her... 'ending'. Yeah... anyway, bye~! Just wanted to push out a slightly shorter chapter for the hell of it.


	32. Hello from the Outside...

            When the guard opened the door to look in on the prisoner, gun cocked and ready to forcibly put down the girl if she was misbehaving, he barely had time to take in the white paint splatter on the floor and walls when a large explosion rocked the building. The girl was nowhere in sight, which was a good thing for her, because he had been given orders to execute if a rescue attempt was made.

\--I feel clever that her blog name was Animus the Portrait. I really do.—

            Alphys was a mad scientist, from the tip of her tail up to the top of her scales. The horrors of the laboratory experiments were fuel for her self-hatred and contempt. Until she found the anime that was lying around in the dump, where even the most despicable villains found salvation. Love. Friendship. So, when the small human came through, with their ‘can-do’ and ‘bitch-please’ attitude, she took full advantage. It didn’t turn out… as well as she first hoped, but in the end, everyone was freed and she finally got together with Undyne, her long time crush. Everyone split after they had the green light on the surface, but she stayed together with Undyne, happily in fact.

            She was quite pleased when she heard about Sans’ crush. At first, she was ready to give him hell, but then she found out who it was. And suddenly… her new OTP was born. And she was a very… _aggressive_ shipper. Very much so. So much, in fact, that when Papyrus called her about Anna’s kidnapping, she took it upon herself to provide the immediate location of the human’s cell phone. Then send explosives and a simple ‘how-to-fake-a-chemical-explosion’ kit. An explosion common in meth labs, in fact. With a very loving note to insure as much damage as possible. No one attacks her ship. _No one_.

\--Bitches be shipping like Fed-Ex.—

            Within a matter of minutes, they knew exactly where Anna was and Alphys even sent them a very nice explosion kit. With a decidedly nasty note about how ‘all is fair in love and war, don’t fuck with my ship’. Sans was quite pleased with her foresight. After all this was over, he wanted to spent the next several weeks cuddling Anna and… but now wasn’t the time for that. He had to get his girl back.

            So, with a very delicately aimed and aggressive Gaster Blaster blast, he knocked on the door. No one was spared inside their base. Every man was beaten, every follower given plenty of broken bones, and anyone in a position of authority quickly interrogated. He’d _like_ to see them try and recruit the two of them again after this. They were also _very_ careful not to leave behind any evidence of their involvement. Tonight was the night the local gang was very _thoroughly_ shown why Papyrus was a member of the Royal Guard and how Sans himself implemented the vicious training routine Papyrus endorsed.

            When they finally reached the room Anna was being held, Sans prepared himself for anything. It had only been over an hour, but the ballsy assholes weren’t big on wasting time. But nothing could have prepared him for what he found. The room itself was… rather stark, with only a few crates and smelled heavily of paint. It had no ventilation and no alternative exits. But it was empty.

            The floor had a smear of blood and drying white paint splattered against the side of an open crate. His eyes followed the blood trail to the farthest wall from the door and he froze.

            “Sans! I have set up the device, where is Anna?” Papyrus said behind him, but he could barely comprehend his brother’s voice. There, against the black backdrop of the concrete wall, was a perfect. Life sized. Portrait. Of Anna, leaning against the wall, her knees giving out, and covering her mouth in fear with white paint splattered hands and clothes. On each side was a perfect white hand print, her own judging by the size, and Sans could only imagine what she must have been feeling at that moment.

            Woodenly, his feet moved across the room, taking in the tears on her face and the growing bruises on her face. Her eyes weren’t even open, and he wasn’t sure if he was glad or not. With shaking hands he gently brushed across the surface of the wall. Anna was, quite literally, just within his reach… but not close enough to count. He didn’t even notice his heaving sobs until Papyrus jerked him back in an embrace meant to restrain and comfort.

            “P-P-Pap! She! She… Anna baby, please!” he cried out, feeling wet drops of orange tinged tears running down his skull, “Come back! Come out, it’s safe! _I’m here now!_ ” he whispered harshly, his Soul shuttering in his rib cage and a cracking sound filled the silence. Like glass under pressure.

            “Sans… I don’t… I don’t think-“

            “No! Magic doesn’t work like that, Papyrus! It’s instinctive! Adaptive! I-It wouldn’t k-ki—No! She’s just…. She’s just hiding! That’s it! She was scared and hurt and her magic reacted! She’ll come back!” Sans whimpered as Papyrus squeezed him closer to his chest, “S-She… she has to.”

            “Sans… Anna’s ability is… mysterious. Full of potential but limited by what she believes. Birds can fly, so they do. Fish can swim, so they will. You’re probably right.” Papyrus reasoned, “She was probably really scared, so she hid. But… she doesn’t know she’s safe right now, and… we don’t have a way to tell her. We have no way of knowing is she’s conscious right now. At best, we could, perhaps, remove this section of wall. Keep it in a safe location… but for how long? How long will you wait, Sans? How long can you wait for her to wake up and realize she’s safe?”

            “As long as it takes.” He didn’t even have to think about it. He’d wait a thousand years if he had to. Papyrus released him and Sans stumbled forward, his hands cupping the image of her face, bones glowing red as he tried with every inch of his Soul to let her know. Let her know it’s safe. She’s safe. He was there for her and he loved her… so much. “Sweetheart… _please come back_.” he whispered against the section of wall, just over her hands.

\--And that sound? That’s the sound of _my_ heart shattering. But wait, it’s going to get worse.—

            Darkness wrapped around me in a velvet embrace. My pain was distant and I was safe… wherever here was. It was peaceful here and nothing mattered anymore. Then I felt it. A cherry light in the darkness, filling me with such… _emotion_ and _warmth_ … I let it flow through my entire body, accepting the sweet affection, sharp lust, and bittersweet sorrow. I wasn’t alone. I didn’t notice how _alone_ I was until that moment, and now that I could feel it—the love and sorrow, I didn’t want to leave. I had everything here, even the painful emotions. Why would I want to?

            “You can’t stay here, Annie. Go back.” I opened my eyes to find a golden-eyed teen in front of me. Distantly, I thought I knew him from somewhere. Who’s Annie? The teen frowned, his eyes filled with frustrated tears. Briefly, I imagined his expression stricken with grief, his hand stretched out to me. “ _Please go back, Annie!_ You can’t stay here! With every passing moment you stay, reality grows farther away!”

            “Who are you? Why would I want to go anywhere?” his expression broke as he drew closer, his hands felt like ice against my warm shoulders.

            “Never mind who I am, Annie! It’s who _you_ are that matters! Remember, Annie! Hold tight to your identity, don’t ever let go! Remember mom! Dad! Your friends—as weird as they are, seriously, they’re so weird—Alphys and Undyne! Your brother Papyrus! Sans!” I felt a sensation move through me with each name, but it was the last one that stopped me completely.

            “…Sans?” my mind raced with images. The color red, cherry red. Stealing my hat. Sketchy and intimidating skeleton. Sans. My boyfriend. Papyrus, his brother. Pasta and one hell of an ego. Alphys and Undyne with their weird jokes and oddly aggressive support for my relationship with Sans. Mom and dad. Brian. _Brian._ I began crying again, pulling him close, despite the icy chill of his body, “A-Are you real, or did I make you up again?! Wait! Don’t answer, I won’t be able to tell the truth anyway! Fuck! I-I-I’m so sorry, Brian! I didn’t mean to! I just missed you so much and-and-a-a-and!” his arms gently wrapped around me.

            “I’m dead. I’m as real as I need to be, Annie. But… for what it’s worth, whether you believe it’s me or your imagination… I understand. You just wanted me to _be_ there a little while longer. I am so _proud_ of you, Annie. But… you _really_ need to go now.” I reluctantly pulled away and looked around. Everlasting darkness. Everywhere I looked. Now that the warm light was inside me, I couldn’t see where it had come from.

            “But where, Brian? I don’t know how to get out or where to go!” I cried. I wanted out. I _needed_ out.

            “It’s not an exit you can see, silly goose. You have to _feel_ it. You have one hell of a connection to that bonehead. _Follow it_.” his image began to flicker and fade away, “I love you, Annie… that skeleton better make you happy… _goodbye_ , Annie dear.” And he was gone, and I was alone again. I let out gasping sobs, trying to make sense of the emotions I felt coming from Sans, if they had any particular direction. After several long moments I felt it. The way out. But it was fading away too fast, I’d never make it in time.

            “Sans! Please hold on, _I’m coming home!_ ” and I followed that connection as fast as I could, but would I make it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I'm positively /ecstatic/ at the response you guys have given me. It really lets me know I've done a good job, especially since this is the first story I've written for this particular genre. Some... things have happened today that have me... rather emotionally conflicted. For years since my parents divorced, I've visited my dad every other weekend. For a majority of those visits, we went to the movies, in fact, I've collected a shit ton of movie tickets from damn near every trip. Today, we watched Angry Birds, which was really good. Especially considering how bad movie adaptations of games tend to be. Tomorrow, I'm 20 and... well, my dad's getting older. Back problems Hearing problems. Memory problems... he just moved into a house since his... troubled time a few years back. Like, an actual house. So, he barely has any furniture. And he seems to have... well, forgotten my birthday. Didn't mention it in any form. I couldn't remind him... especially since he's in such a... financial bind. He's always been a great gift buyer, since he was more financially well of than my mom by a decent margin. He'd feel... really bad that he didn't do anything. Especially since he missed my birthday last year due to his truck breaking down. So... I just can't... Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter. I plan on taking a nap and writing another chapter tonight, so there~!
> 
> Anyway, I just had to put that out there and... yeah, anyway, expect another chapter soon! And this one really hurt to write, like. Fuck. Ow.


	33. Your Cup Will Never Empty, For I Will Be...

            “Sans…look.” Papyrus whispered from behind him. Sans reluctantly opened his eyes and saw Anna’s face… it seemed… different somehow, and was that light reflecting off her tears, as though, she was crying _more_? But then he saw it. The white hand prints. Black holes had formed in the center of each palm and they appeared to be twitching. Slowly, as the mix of emotions ( _Fury. Panic. Desperation. Hope_ ) welled within him, they moved just above Anna’s chest and formed a heart. A heart? No… not a _heart_ … a _Soul_. Anna’s Soul!

            Sans’ reached out with his magic, watching as it thudded against the wall. He would have lost hope if it hadn’t of been for the faint outline of dark blue against the white paint on her top. Reaching out his left hand, he placed it right where her Soul would be, and clenched firmly. The outline of a red heart indicating he could at _least_ come into contact with her Soul. Hope, desperate hope filled his being, bubbling up within his bones along with icy hot magic. He tried again. And again. And then… he caught it. In shades of neon red, he had captured Anna’s Soul. With a gentle turn, he switched the gravity and watched as she seemed to get… closer. It was working!

            Drawing back his hand, still firmly clenched, he felt as though he was dragging an iron weight through quicksand. It would be so easy for him to just let go, readjust his grip perhaps… _But he refused_. He pulled until sweat dripped down his skull in rivulets, his magic burning with Determination. Everything in him cried out in relief when her bent knees began to go through the wall, slowly but surely followed by the rest of her legs and then her torso. When her face, her beautiful, injured face burst through she gasped, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. She didn’t have any strength to stand, and Sans still had her Soul grasped with his other hand, so it was Papyrus embracing the both of them that kept her from falling to the floor.

            When he tried to put her Soul back, it thrummed and fought to keep the connection they shared. Stuck between what could have been and how close he was to losing her, his magic answered the unspoken plea, channeling a little bit of the Soul within its grasp to complete the half-formed connection. When it snapped into place, Sans gasped and practically shoved it back into Anna’s chest, finally using both arms to fully embrace her. His phalanges met fresh blood, much to his horror, and he felt his warring instincts demanding to both destroy everyone responsible and hide Anna away at the same time.

            “Sans… should we take her to the hospital?” Papyrus’ question was met with a feral growl, “Then we should go home, brother, and treat her injuries promptly.” Papyrus stated, withdrawing to set up the remote detonation, “Leave me behind brother, and Anna’s wounds or not, I will send you to Undyne for intense training. _Unsupervised_.” He warned darkly. Sans, mindful of her injuries, clutched her tightly, peppering kisses along her face with low whines.

            How was he going to tell her? Tell her of what he had done? _Without even asking?_

\--Say what you will, Sans makes good on his promises.—

            I woke up laying down on a familiar chest, an odd, settled feeling in my Soul. My clothes felt loose and I could feel bandages wrapped around my chest and back. It smelled sort of like copious amounts of mustard and antiseptic. One of San’s arms was wrapped tightly around my waist and the other had was threaded through my hair. I let out a shuddering breath as memories pieced themselves together, my arms twitching closer to Sans as I borrowed my face into his shirt and began crying. Sans jerked awake, a loud growl ripping through the air as he scanned the room, stopping when he realized that it was just me.

            “Anna…” he whispered into my hair, “Oh, Anna mine. Don’t you _ever_ do that again! I a-almost l-l-lost you…” he whimpered, gingerly sitting up so he could rock the two of us together. I wrapped my arms around his neck and, without any actual thought, kissed him. At first, my lips met his teeth, but within moments a soft force pushed against me as he formed proper lips. My thoughts were blurry, my Soul seeming to thrum happily, but I did have the random thought that I was correct in assuming it was a voluntary thing. Having lips, I mean.

            I wasn’t exactly… experienced in kissing, but this seemed like a more… desperate press than an active kiss. Which, I could totally get behind, but still… maybe I should practice kissing Sans more? Seems like something I should have on my list. For reasons. Incredibly well thought out and scientifically backed reasons, I swear. I even have sources… somewhere. But then he pulled away and I was gasping for breath. Apparently, I forgot breathing was a thing. One more reason to practice.

            “S-Sans! I-I almost didn’t come back, Sans! I f-forgot everything, any reason for coming back, but then… I saw him.” Sans desperately ran his hands carefully along my body, as though I was going to disappear or shatter, “Brian came. H-He told me I couldn’t stay there, that I had to go back! H-He was so _cold_ , Sans. And he s-said he l-loved me and g-g-goodbye, but I still c-can’t tell if it was real!” I said, fresh tears running down my achy face. Sans cupped my cheeks, only giving me a dull throb across my right cheek, and looked into my eyes.

            “Anna… we don’t _know_ how you did… whatever you did. Not even Alphys can figure it out. But… whatever it was you did… it should have been _permanent_. In fact, I almost couldn’t pull you out in time. A-A-And Anna… please don’t… don’t leave me when I tell you this?” a thick band of red tears wobbled on the edge of his eye sockets.

            “W-What, Sans? W-What happened that makes you think I-I’d leave you?” I whispered, my mind drawing a blank on anything rational, “I-Is it because there were guys in the apartment waiting? Sans, you couldn’t have known!—“

            “No. Not… not that… I took away your choice! T-There’s no excuse, no matter how scared I was about losing you, I shouldn’t have done it!” Sans growled angrily. He refused to look at me, tears spilling down his cheekbones. I reached up and wiped the liquid away, leaving a tingling feeling behind on my hands.

            “Sans… just tell me already.” I whispered.

            “I Soul Bonded with you, Anna. Technically, it’s a Monster thing, but any two creatures with a Soul and awareness of their Soul can do it. It’s permanent… or at least, as permanent as it can be. S-Separation is possible, but it won’t work completely. Our Souls basically have an infinite loop inside them of the other’s Soul. Inside my Soul is a small scale replica of yours, and in yours the same, but inside the small scale replicas are smaller scale replicas of the opposing Soul. It’s a never ending loop, as far as research has been able to define. P-Please, I’m so sorry! D-Don’t leave me!” Sans whispered desperately. Oh… I wasn’t… sure how to feel about that.

            “Sans… how is it done?” Sans tucked his face against the crook of my neck.

            “B-Both individuals form a connection, and through that connection, draw a portion of the other into themselves. I-I don’t know how it took, since you c-couldn’t have known but…” Sans dissolved into another fit of tears and desperate pleas. Oh… I peppered gently kisses on his skull.

            “Sans… there was no way I could have known beforehand, you were right… but I still did it willingly. Wherever I was, it was so _dark_. I was empty of anything. I thought I was fine, but I wasn’t. Then, warm cherry light shined through and filled me with all these emotions and I could _feel_. Your affection. Adoration. Lust. I took all of it in. Even the grief you held at possibly losing me. _I started the bond, Sans_. This is all a… really weird accident… but one I wouldn’t take back. _Ever_. But I still expect you to actually propose one day, Sans—“ his face looked up at me with this… _star struck_ expression. I didn’t even get to finish, his lips slamming down over mine. He accidentally gripped me too tightly and I hissed in pain, he immediately relaxed and ran his hands over my back gently.

            “We used as much passive healing magic as we could, so expect Papyrus to give you food glowing so brightly you’d think he used glow sticks to make it.” Sans whispered as he kissed my temple. I nodded, just happy to be alive and here with him.

            “…What’s passive healing magic?”

            “Magic that you don’t have to consume for it to work.” Sans said simply.

            “Sans?”

            “Yes?”

            “What… what happened? While I was… out.” Sans’ grin sharpened.

            “Well, it’s the strangest thing, really. There was an explosion, identical to that of a chemical explosion in a meth lab, and the entirety of base was destroyed along with the people inside. No survivors. Tragic.” Sans said without any emotion what so ever. I felt a small shiver run down my spine. Monsters are edgy fucks. But… I guess they’re _my_ edgy fucks. I leaned into Sans chest and closed my eyes, falling asleep instantly, feeling encompassed by the warmth and safety he exuded.

\--Healing comfort~!—

            Papyrus ducked his head into the room, instantly pleased at how relaxed Sans was with Anna in his arms. It meant she had woken up since the last time he checked in. Speaking of which, it was rather odd how… _feral_ Sans had started to act about Anna. It was almost like he had… had…

            “…S A N S…” he intoned darkly, Sans’ eyes flicking open at the sound of his voice, “Y O U  D I D N ‘ T…” Sans looked scared… _good_. _He should be_ …

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here. Forever. Apparently... So, yeah, you guys toughed it out pretty good! Oh, small update, my dad realized it was a birthday a few hours ago, and like I suspected he would, he felt bad about it. 
> 
> I have a small... idea running through my head for a continuation of this. I don't have anything serious planned like this one, but it would probably just be a small every-once-in-a-while fluff thing as they coexist together. Possibly explore the Soul Bonding thing and what it entails. I'm also really tempted to actually write about them having a kid. I have a few... head cannons about how it would work between two technically incompatible species. But I do really want to move onto another cool idea I have for Undertale, which will be a separate, unrelated story to this one. MafiaTale. Fuck yeah. But, first, I have to finish this. And if I don't finish it before Tuesday, you guys won't get anything until the following Sunday because I'll be at my mom's place. She has WiFi but it's finicky. We're... all struggling financially (my situation is a little... precarious to get a job since I don't have a car and I only have a permit, not an actual license, and most places nearby are sort of within walking distance but I live in a city and i'd rather not walk along a major highway every day), but i'd feel like an ass if I tried to set up a penpal account to coerce you guys into paying me to write stuff I honestly enjoy doing. That I really shouldn't charge because it's based off of a work I don't own and that's sort of illegal.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter~!


	34. The Talk Needs to be Said But When?

            Papyrus viewed himself as a pillar of his community. A beacon of grand accomplishments and firm morals, even in the rather corrupt times in the underground. He had lines—No. Firm iron walls that nothing could break. And he upheld the basic principles of these walls. Children are to be protected and taught, not used in any fashion. Those innocent of a crime shall not be punished for the crime they did not commit. Ideals along those lines. Basic… simple. But, there was one particular principle that he holds close to his heart, which were among the rules he had thoroughly taught Sans over the years. It was the reason he did not mind his brother’s… _interesting_ tastes in females and ‘one night stands’.

            Matters of the heart are not to be trifled with. It was the reason he intervened that day in the grocery store with Anna. Relationships—any kind of relationship—are to be entered on equal terms. Mistakes are to be expected, sure, but every relationship is to be made willingly. He knew for a fact that his brother has never delved into the topic of Soul Bonding with Anna. A Soul Bond would explain his recent odd behavior, even taking into account the recent danger she has faced. For an undeterminable amount of time, dominant partners in a Soul Bonding will be… touchy and feral.

            At first, it will be to adjust to the bond, the intimate weight of having another living being depending on them. But after a time, it will be to figure out where the other partner draws their own lines and what behavior is acceptable to them as a submissive. Dominants aren’t always the physically stronger or even the male partner, since not every Soul Bonding is between opposing genders. Every monster of age, and therefore complete Soul maturity, knows this. Anna, as a human and very recent adoptive sibling of a monster, does not.

            He had hoped there would be time to allow Anna to adjust to their sibling relationship before giving her ‘the talk’, which was his right as her only monster sibling. Therefore, Papyrus very much doubted that Anna knew beforehand what Sans had done. For both of their sakes, Papyrus hoped that Anna was alright with the turn of events, because breaking a Soul Bond was no simple matter.

\--Fell Papyrus has strong morals, like Undertale Papyrus probably would if he wasn’t such a… cinnamon roll.—

            Sans knew he was in deep shit the moment he heard Papyrus’ growl just outside the door. He rarely ever heard his brother use _that_ particular voice, so his new and ever growing instincts were squashed beneath a wave of panic. He was stuck with either risk waking Anna up or being torn apart by his brother for irresponsible bonding where Anna couldn’t hear him scream. Judging by the look he was getting, it was going to happen, one way or the other… might as well let Anna sleep a little longer. Before he could remove her, Papyrus walked in and gently lifted Anna into his arms.

            “I will put Anna in my room to rest, after which, I expect you to still be here for a… _chat_.” Yep. He’s dead. It was slightly pleasing to hear the moderately upset noise Anna made at being removed from his embrace though. Almost enough to make the next twenty minutes of angry lecturing worth it. The lecture did get much tamer after he mentioned how Anna herself accidentally initiated the bond. By like, half an inch, perhaps?

\--Papyrus be like ‘NO’.—

            I was jerked awake by a stab of pain. Apparently, Sans left and I tried to roll onto my back in my sleep, but since the cut on my back wasn’t healed yet, it didn’t end well. I felt a little bit like there was something missing, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It probably had something to do with Sans no longer being in the room, since the Soul Bond thing sounded like it would likely cause feelings like that. Looking around, I realized I was inside Papyrus’ room for some reason. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. I never really went into Papyrus’ room and I didn’t want to go hunting Sans down like some clingy lunatic, but there really wasn’t much I could do right now… maybe I could draw something? I’m thinking charcoal.

            Sitting up carefully, I padded down the hallway to Sans’ empty room and over to my bag with art supplies, mostly untouched after I finished my final art projects for college. I think I heard them inside the kitchen though. I wonder what they were talking about? Anyway, inside was an incredibly large notebook and charcoal pencils. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I got to work, sketching out the first thing on my mind. At first, I thought it was just coincidence. That I was just thinking of something else that _happened_ to look like a monster (?) I had seen before but couldn’t recall.

            But then I began filling in the details. The mask like face with cracks. The white hands with holes in the palms. I was kind of terrified at the almost possessed way I drew, but I couldn’t stop. With every mark I felt more and more exhausted. I couldn’t stop… until finally, I was done. But that wasn’t the end of it. The charcoal grains began to move and quiver as the picture began to gain a life of its own. With a startled cry, I dropped the notebook, but it didn’t stop. The draining feeling didn’t stop. With a sharp tug at my Soul, the odd individual I had drawn finally escaped the paper confines like a sludge of black ink.

            The mass was huge, puddling over my bare feet and seeming to expand almost three feet in diameter before stopping. Then, like it was being pulled up as a silken curtain rather than liquid, it began to rise up, taking the vague shape of a man. My eye sight began to dim, exhaustion crashing over me just as the strange monster finalized his shape, his face and hands a pale white against the black fabric of his cloak. I fell back, not even the sharp pain from my injuries enough to jolt me awake as a smooth timbre vibrated across the empty room.

            “Ah… it’s good to finally be free… I wish we could have met under better circumstances, Anna… Hm? How odd… why do I feel pa—“

\--Look who joined the party!—

            Even with the volume of Papyrus’ lecture, Sans still heard the cry of distress coming from his room. Papyrus did too, judging by how fast he pulled out a long length of bone and led the way to his open doorway. Inside, standing over _his Bonded_ was a tall monster with… a… white mask-like face. A headache exploded inside his skull as memories flooded his mind. Really old memories of when Papyrus and him were baby bones. Before Gaster, their father— _Father?!_ —disappeared into thin air. After several long moments he could remember the source of his fear of hands with holes… and his inexplicable anxiety over raised voices, which never went away, even after Gaster repaired the physical damage and was erased from time and space. Glowing red eyes looked up at them in surprise.

            “Ah… _my sons_. Do not fear, Anna is fine. A bit exhausted, but very much alive. It is lucky that the loophole of her ability allowed me to come back without—“

            “What the _fuck_ did you do to her?!” he snarled angrily, his magic gently dragging Anna away from Gaster. Speaking of, he looked oddly offended.

            “ _I_ did no lasting damage to her, Sans. I simply went into her sub consciousness and waited. When she drew me, all I had to do was push through the Void and… _voila_. I was freed… though, I did not expect her Soul Status to affect me as such… I suppose it is to be expected. Congratulations with your Bonding, by the way.” Gaster said off handedly, still high on his successful escape from the Void.

            “What do you mean, father?” Papyrus said, lowering his bone club but not casting it away.

            “Well, her Soul Status is Shared Empathy. Meaning, whatever she brings to ‘life’ so to speak, has an emotional connection with her. Due to Sans’ Soul Bonding, that connection settled on platonic and paternal. Which is appropriate considering she is essentially my daughter-in-law.” Gaster paused and looked down at Anna’s body, “I would recommend redressing her bandages, by the way. Her wound has opened up again. Unpleasant business, the… ‘Portrait Incident’ by the way. I will need to research into the strange In-Between world she cast herself into. I was unaware the deceased could traverse any known world as her late brother did…” Gaster said contemplatively.

            “Exactly what are you going to do now, Gaster?” Sans asked, carefully pulling Anna into his arms so his instincts could stop screeching at him. Gaster stopped, his cheeks looking a little red.

            “I seem to have… forgotten that I no longer have a living space. I suppose I can go to the underground. There are plenty of vacancies there, though it will be unpleasant to stay there again knowing I do not have to. How… complicated.” Gaster mused to himself. Well, he was right. He couldn’t just start living aboveground without some explanation. Legal papers. That kind of thing.

            “We need to find a new home due to the… break in security. Perhaps, while you are going through the legal process of registering as a citizen once more, you may dwell with us?” Papyrus proposed. Sans didn’t like it. Not at all. Gaster was pretty much the root of his anxieties and basically abandoned them. No… he didn’t like it at all. But he didn’t have much of a choice. Anna needed medical help right now and monster food as soon as possible. “Excellent. I shall start cooking food for Anna and converse with Alphys on the phone. If you would join me father and let Sans reign in his instincts for the moment?” Papyrus asked, Gaster seeing the advantages to bonding with his much more put together son and allowing his emotional one time to think.

            “Very well… I have much to catch up on. While I could view your progress in the Void, there is no replacement for simply _being_ there. I am particularly proud of how well you turned out, Papyrus. My Bonded… your carrier would have been proud.” Gaster said, his voice fading as they left Sans alone with Anna. He closed the door as quietly as possible and grabbed the first aid kit. Alphys dressed Anna’s wounds in the first place, but if something went wrong, he’d need to know now. The fact that he’d have to remove her shirt was both a positive and a negative thing… well, he’s been practicing self-control for over two months, why change anything now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, I'm trying to wrap up this story really soon since i'm starting to lose interest in it. I still like what I've done, and I do have tentative plans to have a slow running sequel in the near future with possible offspring (and maybe smut, but any sexual content will have warnings ahead of time if you're not interested in reading it). I'm likely to do a MafiaTale story next, but I really like the idea of BittyTale and KinderTale (I think that's what it's called. I mostly just want to write cute babybones Sans and Papyrus). There's a chance I will have a burst of inspiration and finally finish the other two sequels I have in the wings, not totally sure right now. But I am losing my drive for this story, which is understandable considering I've hit the 142 page mark now, which is way longer than I thought it would be originally. Just wanted you guys to know that this is ending really soon and I hope you guys have enjoyed the story and this chapter, even if you don't leave a comment or anything.


	35. All's Well that Ends Well...

            Waking up, I found myself in the same position that I fell asleep in. Laying on Sans’ chest… no, wait… I woke up in Papyrus’ room and… What the hell happened?!

            “Sans? Sans? Hey, Sans, wake up!” I said, reaching up and patting his face lightly. His eyes blearily opened up and looked down at me. His face stretched sleepily into a smile.

            “You woke up…” I nodded, a little curious about his rather sweet response.

            “Yeah… but I’m not sure what happened. I drew someone and then the drawing… I-I’m not sure how but…”

            “You brought my old man back from the Void. He considers you his daughter-in-law by the way.”

            “I still expect you to propose, by the way.” I shot back at him, my stomach rumbling ominously, “And to feed me. That would be nice. Maybe properly meet your dad, I don’t know.” I said casually, kissed the bottom of his jaw before trying to sit up.

            “Oh no you don’t!” Sans said, bringing me back down for a proper kiss, “I thought something had happened to you.” he whispered against my lips before actually kissing me, his hand threading through my hair gently. After several long moments he pulled back, the both of us panting lightly for air. He sat up, gently nuzzling my neck for a bit before moving us both off the bed to get some food. He gently steered me into the living room and set me down on the couch. “I’ll get you some food, just rest easy, alright?” I nodded and leaned curiously towards the kitchen where I heard Papyrus talking to someone.

            “—I was quite dedicated to entering the Royal Guard. I even sat outside Undyne’s house for hours until she woke up and realized I was still waiting for her to take me seriously.” Papyrus declared as Sans entered the kitchen, “Oh, Sans, has Anna awakened yet?”

            “Yeah, Papyrus. Figured she could use some food to finish healing.”

            “Sans, you know it will take a few days for her injuries to fully heal, yes? It is inadvisable to flood her system with healing magic.” The smooth voice of their father said from inside the kitchen.

            “…I know that, Gaster. But a plate should at least heal her back enough so that it’ll stop opening up and bleeding.” Sans said grumpily. Vague recollections of a dream I had with Gaster’s memories answered my unrealized question about Sans’ attitude with his dad. That outburst probably scarred Sans for life, in a physical and psychological sense.

            “Very well then, as long as you are aware.” Gaster said neutrally as dishes clattered about noisily. A few seconds later, Sans reentered the living room with a plate of chicken parmesan. I eagerly reached out for the plate but Sans ignored me, sitting it on the table and lifting me into his lap. I reached for the plate again, but Sans cut me off and lifted the plate onto my lap himself, his hands radiating red magic that seeped into the food. I paused for several moments before speaking.

            “Am I allowed to eat now, or are you going to do something else? Season it with spices in your pocket? Stir it briskly?” I asked grumpily, looking back at Sans with narrowed eyes. His cheekbones were stained red.

            “…Sorry, Anna mine. It’s… a monster custom to put small amounts of magic in food for someone that’s not feeling well or injured.” I let out a sigh and leaned back, finally getting to shovel a fork-full of food into my mouth with a sigh.

            “It’s fine, Sans… I’m just grumpy right now. It’s getting to be that time of month again.” I said after swallowing the delicious bite of food. I could faintly feel a tingling sensation running down my throat and spreading across my face, back, and strangely in my right hip. Oh. Right. My injuries.

            “Time of month? What time of month?” Sans asked in concern. I snorted around another mouthful of food.

            “Sans… I’m biologically female… it happens.”

            “What happens?! What does your cis-gender have to do with anything?!” Sans asked incredulously. I felt my face grow warm.

            “Sans… I mean my menstrual cycle. You know, my _period_?” I said in mortification. His face blanked out for several moments as horror swept over his features.

            “ _When does this happen?!_ What do you need?!” Oh yeah… I kind of never mentioned it when it happened last month, just kind of dealt with it.

            “I have everything I need already Sans. Didn’t you notice I was a little… snappy last month too?” I said with an embarrassed chuckle, kissing his cheek before returning to my food. Gaster entered with a put upon sigh, his clothes changed since the last time I saw him. He now wore a black turtleneck with dark jeans. He set down next to Sans, Papyrus following to sit on our other side.

            “Honestly, Sans…” Papyrus shook his head, “Did you think Anna was somehow an exception to the basic biological functions of her sex?” Gaster clicked his tongue.

            “Which reminds me, has she had the talk?” Gaster asked lightly. I choked a little on my food. _The talk?!_ Papyrus shook his head.

            “Not yet. I had planned on doing so soon, but since you are now the eldest of the house, you may have the honor, if you wish father.” Papyrus said.

            “Why do you guys assume I don’t know about ‘the birds and the bees’?!” I asked hoarsely, trying not to let my face burst into flames of embarrassment. Sans was decidedly silent as Papyrus and Gaster gave me _a look_.

            “Well, it’s not that we assumed you didn’t know about sex…” Papyrus began awkwardly.

            “It’s that we _know_ you don’t know about how it works with monsters. Sans has had remarkable control so far, but your relationship won’t always be so… _clean_. You’re not the first human/monster couple, you know. It’s just been centuries since the last recorded coupling. And those certainly didn’t progress enough for a Bonding, or even offspring, if such a thing is possible for you two.” Gaster said evenly and I wanted to just disappear into the floor. Judging by how tight Sans’ grip was, so did he.

            “But right now, you’re eating, so the ‘talk’ can wait. In fact, we can debate what would be good things for a new home… if you want to stay with us, that is…” Papyrus ended a little shyly. I laughed a little.

            “I think that would be nice, bro… you know, my parents invest in real estate. I think they still have that house in a gated community. We were supposed to move into it after Brian got better but… he never did. But they kept it. I bet, if I asked, we can work something out to gain ownership and everything. It’s a pretty big house. Plenty of room for each of us, even you, Gaster, if you want to stay.” I said, thinking about the nice house my parents had taken me to once in high school. There are some perks to having workaholic parents.

            “Tell me about this house, Anna! It sounds like exactly what we need!” Papyrus exclaimed. I nodded and tried to recall everything I was told.

            “Well, there are five bedroom, a basement converted into a small apartment for one, two and a half bath, and it had a pretty decently sized yard. The gated community was nice the last time I visited. It’s also not too far from a town, with a school district and everything.” I summed up. Papyrus nodded.

            “Yes, it sounds quite nice, but you’ll have to tell your parents you live with your boyfriend… and perhaps mention the Soul Bond.” Papyrus added. I froze.

            “Oh… right. Forgot about that. Well… that’ll be an interesting talk, I’m sure.”

            “I won’t be surprised of your parents hate monsters after that.” Sans muttered into my shoulder.

            “Well, they might be… upset, but I’m pretty sure that they’ll be okay with it once they realize that they didn’t miss attending a wedding. Which will definitely need to happen one day, but maybe sometime later. After I figure out if there would be legal issues.” I said simply.

            “I suppose I see the reason for your insistence at a human wedding, but in the eyes of monster law, you’re pretty much already married. I suppose it will be nice to have a big celebration. The King and Queen made sure that, legally speaking, monsters have full rights, but culturally speaking, you may find difficulties.” Papyrus warned, “Here, they fear my brother and I because of our reputation, but it won’t always be so.” he said gravely. I huffed.

            “Well, I guess we’ll deal with that when we get to it. But… I don’t regret a single thing.” I said firmly, polishing off the last bite of my food before setting down my plate and holding onto Sans’ hand. Yeah… I can do this.

            “Now, about that ‘talk’—“ Gaster began almost gleefully, Sans immediately interrupting him.

            “Nope! No. _Hell no_. I refuse to do this right now, Anna, I think you need to _rest_ some more! Come on, let’s get you washed up, check that wound, and then go to bed! Sounds like an ace plan, indeed it does!” Sans squawked, his face flushed red as he lifted me up and carried me into the bathroom, Papyrus and Gaster’s laughter chasing him out of the room. Yeah… I think we can do this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're done! This is the end of this story and tomorrow morning i'll be at my mom's, so I doubt there will be updates for at least a week. It's been a hell of a ride and I really appreciate that you guys stuck around. I have to admit... a domestic tale sounds really fun to do. *I am filled with Moderate Determination*
> 
> There's a strong chance that the sequel will have sexy times, but I will warn you guys at the beginning of such a chapter, but I do plan on writing something besides this sequel. It might take a while, probably won't update every day like I did for this one, but there's a strong chance you guys will get it. If only to see if I can pull it off. Judging by the reaction to this story, I can do fluffy romance quite well. Any questions or requests are welcome. Thank you for being here for this wild journey.


	36. Character Personalities of Underfell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As requested by Gelasia_Kidd, a more or less complete bio of all the Underfell characters. I didn't include my OC, Anna, or anyone not a part of the Underfell cast. Sorry it's so late, but I hope it helps if anyone else wishes to use my interpretation of Underfell!

Character Personality Bios

 

            Sans: Charming skeleton that would often go to clubs and have one night stands with willing human females. Has a problem with raised voices that causes him to inexplicably shake and sweat heavily. Has a violent side but due to his low HP, prefers to have backup despite being able to hold his own. A bit cynical and a pervert. Rather like Undertale Sans, he is really good at judging people with a glance. He only makes puns when incredibly pissed. This isn’t in the story, but he does have a ticklish spot, though unless it was someone he holds dear (like Anna) he’d likely punch them. This spot is actually just any sort of touching to the floating ribs. The person who influenced him the most was Papyrus (and Gaster in relation to his anxiety over loud voices).

            Papyrus: Considers himself a dark knight like in the children’s story books that fell into the underground. Like Undertale Papyrus, he has moments where the meaning of a situation goes right over his head, but not often. Papyrus has zero interest in physical relations with females, particularly human females, and harbors a somewhat secret crush on Mettaton. He has strong morals and is intelligent enough to look into a situation with a single glance. Both skeleton brothers have a strong intuition about people and situations. Papyrus has an impeccable control of his magic, believing that he should hold himself to a high standard of all aspects in life. His cooking was once quite terrible, but unlike in Undertale, Underfell Sans had no problem with telling his brother it tasted terrible. Unable to accept failure he trained his culinary skills to perfection. He doesn’t want to _be_ a villain, but has no problem with presenting a threatening front with his attitude, hence his high moral standard. He has strong protective instincts for those that can’t defend themselves but is practical enough to teach them if possible. Having said that, he has no issue with taking others to task for wrong doing against himself, his family, or just society in general. Papyrus believes he should be a pillar of good influence and a healthy dose of intimidation for everyone around him. He views Sans as an incredibly capable individual, despite his unfortunate habits (like drinking mustard, lazy tendencies, and until recently, his play boy attitude). He did everything in his power to ensure Sans can stand on his own, even against himself to a point. Let’s face it, Papyrus’ skill comes from insane amounts of practice that Sans is unlikely to reach under his own violation. The person that influenced him the most was Undyne and Sans.

            Undyne: This fish wife is a ‘take no prisoners’ type of person. All or nothing is her motto and it shows in her strong physique and training style. Unlike Papyrus, who learned heavy self-restraint, Undyne just doesn’t have the patience for it. Either you keep up or step out of the way. She was trained by King Asgore mercilessly and held up gloriously. As a result, she views Asgore as a father and mentor despite his rather cold exterior. It was actually from Papyrus that she learned a high moral attitude due to the hostile environment of the Waterfall area. She didn’t lack morals before, as seen in her tendency to avoid conflict with children, but admires Papyrus’ staunch attitude against injustices of any kind. She had a very serious crush on Alphys that was fulfilled, as they are now fully bonded and married. If there was anyone she’d hold back against, it would be her wife. The biggest influence in her life was Asgore growing up and Papyrus and Alphys in her teens and adult life.

            Alphys: Alphys grew up rather timid and found confidence in her sharp intelligence. As a scientist she’s curious and not entirely opposed to the gray areas of accepted science. For a short time, she worked with Sans in studying the Core. When Sans quit she moved onto the project that changed her life the most. The DT Experiments. When they went horribly wrong, she was horrified. For several weeks, like Undertale Alphys, she hid herself away from society. But the abrasive lifestyle in the underground ultimately lead her to take on the role she has since perfected. The evil scientist. She was deeply uncomfortable feeling heavy guilt, so took influence from her anime shows, and waited for the day she can redeem herself while continuing less than stellar behavior. This lead her to make a robot body for the rather reluctant Mettaton, a shy ghost who wanted to be seen and admired but couldn’t quite _do_ anything about it. It was a less than grand attempt at redemption, since Mettaton wasn’t entirely ready for such a leap. Frisk’s rather dry and sassy attitude showed her that she didn’t _need_ to go through some experience with someone else. She could have made the change to be the person she always wanted on her own. No contrived plot necessary. Undyne then helped her learn to stand in her own shoes, rather than the ones she made to appear strong. That’s not to say the two roles were terribly different, just that now, Alphys would actually take the feelings of her patient into consideration before altering them. Her biggest influences in life was anime, Frisk, Sans (to a small degree due to his casual intelligence), Gaster’s work, and Undyne.

            Gaster: Amoral Scientist of the Void. He watched the entire kingdom crumble into the rather bitter shell of its former self and adapted accordingly. As a result, his methods and actions are not wholly acceptable for everyone. A workaholic and very protective of his sons caused him to make a fatal mistake and fall into the Core. He has a temper and is willing to lash out at others, even to a fatal result. Basically, if you weren’t family, Gaster had no problem with disposing you if necessary. But above all, he is a man of logic (except in those instances of his temper getting the best of him). Emotions are a… lesser concern for him. Certainly nothing to base his decisions off of unless it involves his family, and sometimes, not even then. He is incredibly proud of how his sons turned out and feels lingering regret over his loss of control that physically marked Papyrus and Sans and left Sans with a deep fear of raised voices. His biggest influences are Sans, Papyrus, Asgore, and Toriel (due to having worked for them to create the Core).

            The rest of this list never actually appeared in the story, but I’ll give you their personality bios anyway.

            Mettaton (and Nabstablook): While not in this story, Mettaton and Nabstablook were also rather affected by their environment. Nabstablook became an abrasive loner with music being his only outlet and retreat. His distance included his own cousin, Mettaton. Unlike in Undertale, Underfell Mettaton didn’t have a shy cousin to lean on and desire to support due to Nabstablook’s colder nature. This caused him to be unsure of himself and lacking in confidence despite his desire to be a celebrity. When Alphys heard of his desire, she built him a robot body to possess and promptly shoved him inside. Being wholly unprepared, Mettaton experienced heavy self-hatred for his new body that he couldn’t escape. It was Frisk’s confident attitude that helped him come to terms with himself and become the famous pop star he is today. As a result he is very empathetic. Like most Underfell characters, Mettaton is no stranger to violence, his robot body giving him an edge over any aggressors. His newfound confidence helped bridge the gap between his cousin and they now work together to great music, Nabstablook mellowing out due to having a wider outlet for his issues and a stable relationship with his cousin despite their different physical appearances. The biggest influences for Mettaton (and Nabstablook) is primarily Frisk and Alphys. (Ironically, their cousin Mad Dummy is pretty much identical to Undertale, but with slightly more control over his anger due to the likelihood of others to lash out at him for his attitude snappy.)

            Flowey (Asriel): Asriel was born rather shortly after the barrier was made and died before the kingdom became the bitter place it was in Underfell. He retained most of his personality as Flowey, mostly because he didn’t feel like the happiness of the kingdom mocked his heavy passing (and Chara’s sacrifice). This resulted in the timid but scrapping by Flowey we see most often in fanart of Underfell. He’s reluctant to truly accept the ‘kill or be killed’ philosophy that most of the underground has since he’s in such a bad way with the standard in place. He really came into his own when Frisk went through the underground and showed him that it was possible to show kindness in such an abrasive place. On occasion, he even fought back for Frisk when things got too tough. He isn’t certain how to feel about Alphys, in part because he was miserable as a flower for so long, but ultimately appreciates his second chance at life. He also has a strong admiration to Papyrus, since he was living proof that you didn’t have to be strong by beating everyone into dust. His biggest influences were his parents, Papyrus (slightly less so for Sans), and Frisk.

            Frisk: The little shit that could and _would_ , damn it all! ‘Be careful bitch, or we might end up as besties’ is more or less their approach to the aggressive and abrasive inhabitants of the underground. Sassy and just a little edgy, this human basically trained the entire underground to hold polite conversation for more than five minutes without punching or threatening someone else. Relentless and clever to boot, Frisk made it through and shattered the barrier with sheer Determination alone. They refuse to acknowledge any life prior to falling into the underground and is protective of their flower buddy, Flowey. Would be that one person to climb Mt. Everest without an oxygen tank because someone said it couldn’t be done. Lives to infuriate, amaze, and despite everything, befriend everyone they encounter. Regardless of the risk or challenge it may possess to do so. Lives a somewhat less adventurous life with Toriel and Asgore in the country. Biggest influences in life is Flowey (for having stated the first challenge of ‘Kill or be Killed’ and leading them through the underground), Toriel (for her, at first, desperate attempts to be a mother to Frisk), Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, and Asgore (who quickly fell into the stern father role with amazing ease).

            Toriel: After the loss of her children and disapproval of Asgore’s actions following, she left to go live in the Ruins. Bitter at her loss and the growing aggression of the underground, she lost her grip on reality for several years. The failure to protect the humans that fell until Frisk merely adding to the cracks in her psyche. Despite her growing erratic behavior, she couldn’t bring it in herself to harm creatures smaller than her for long. This included Flowey on a rare occasion. When Frisk came into her life (being a near exact double for Chara) she regained a large portion of her sanity and letting Frisk go through the door into Snowdin helped her realize she couldn’t replace what she had lost. She still has slightly erratic moments, but Asgore’s continued presence slowly heals both of them. Her biggest influence was Asgore, Gaster (who taught her heavy logic that helped bring her back into sanity), Chara, Asriel (Flowey), and Frisk.

            Asgore: Asgore did not handle the loss of his children very well, ultimately blaming the humans and putting a hit on any human to fall into the underground so he could harvest their Souls and take revenge. Under his watch the kingdom fell into depression and then became the aggressive land it is now known for. He feels like a failure as a king, husband, and father in all respects. Incredibly powerful and imposing, he was amazed at the courage and Determination of Frisk, feeling as though Chara had come back to show him the error of his ways. He now spends his time helping Toriel recover from her intense isolation and depression while raising Frisk as a father. Toriel and Asgore may live comfortable domestic lives today, but any threat will quickly be annihilated under their stern watch. He enjoys the process of making tea and drinking it with close friends and family. He also views Undyne as a sort of step-child (acknowledging the fact that Undyne is in no way a child of Toriel). He has a hobby of gardening with his wife and Frisk. He looks forward to the day that Toriel makes Cinnamon-Butterscotch Pie without slightly burning the crust, like before they lost their children originally. Asgore is still uncertain of his relationship with Flowey, the more or less, reincarnation of Asriel, but treats him as a son regardless. His biggest influences are Toriel, Asriel (Flowey), Chara, and Frisk.


	37. Sequel!

The sequel is up and is called 'Colorful as Hell'! You can also reach it through the series this work is now under called 'Painting Paper Cranes'!

 

 

Preview!

 

 

            Heavy knocks resounded against the door. It’s over. We couldn’t run forever. The door opened, the light from the hallway highlighting the ominous figure in the doorway. Sans froze, his arms tightening reflexively around me as he slowly turned his head to look back.

            “It’s time…” The figure stepped into the room and...

 

 

YOU'LL HAVE TO GO TO THE SEQUEL TO FIND OUT! I hope you guys enjoy, it's a bit short for a first chapter but I just wanted it out there so you guys can bookmark or subscribe or whatever. It's what I do when I find sequels to works I enjoy. *shrugs* But yeah, don't be afraid to leave comments, request, or recommendations in the new work. It doesn't have a note at the beginning or end because the last time I did that on a first chapter, it tried to carry it through the entire work.


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